Beyond blood
by JustCallMeCookie
Summary: When a rumor leads to the World Government discovering Luffy's existence, tragedy is sure to follow. A Buster Call on Dawn Island leaves Luffy with only one thing left to live for. Ace. But Finding his brother will prove challenging, even if he's a part of the world-renowned Whitebeard Pirates, and even then, the scars he has been left with need time and care to properly heal again
1. Cipher Pohl on Dawn Island

**Why, hello there, reader. I'm glad you've decided to click in on my fanfiction. It's an idea that's seriously been bugging me for over a month, so I finally decided to get it out of my head. Here are a few things that might be good to know before you read:**

_**1- Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :) **_

_**2- I am NOT a native English speaker, so please be nice to me with the mistakes I will undoubtedly make. Of course, I pray my writing, vocabulary, and grammar will all get better as this story moves forward :D**_

_**3- This is in fact the first fanfiction I've decided to share with the fanfiction community, but not the first Onefic (one piece fanfiction) I have written. Please, if you feel updating takes too long, leave a review to pressure me to write the new chapter already. (My self-esteem isn't the greatest, so I assure you that's gonna work)**_

**_4- I will only change very few things from the canon storyline, and otherwise, try to capture the characters' personalities, as well as my abilities, allow me to. _**

**_-While Rob Lucci would originally already be working at Water 7 by now, that's not the case in this story_****_. _**

_**-(Don't know if this is canon or not, but just another nice fact to know) This story takes place well around 6 months after Ace has left Dawn Island.**_

_**5- Of course I own nothing in this story. All rights go to Toei animation and Odachi. **_

_**6- No pairings. Don't like, don't read. **_

**Alright, with that boring stuff out of the way, here's the actual story:**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Cipher Pohl on Dawn Island**

The soldiers working under Cp9 had seen many crazy things during the years they had worked for the government. War… death... islands left in ruin… starvation… drought... the list went on and on.

After seeing enough messed up stuff, one of two things was very likely to happen. One, the horrors you've experienced start to haunt you. You'll feel the absolute guilt for the countless lives of innocents (and those who weren't) you've taken, feel yourself get swallowed up by the darkness that would begin to eat away at you until you start going crazy, hearing the never-ending horrifying shrieks of the dead, have a constant illusion of your hands being soaked in blood...

Once an agent starts exhibiting such signs, there's no saving them, no way for them to turn back or be of any help anymore. Countless… _countless_ men have been killed in this disgusting way. Shot. Shot because they've become useless and their will was too weak.

That was the worst-case scenario, though, but not a very uncommon outcome. The only other option that remained was to simply grow numb to these sights - to the truly unforgettable terrors the world had to offer. To learn that no matter what kind of order you're issued, just comply and fulfill that order without hesitation or question unless you'd like to be killed yourself.

Those were the kind of men who had been assigned to this very mission. The truly trustworthy ones who wouldn't _dare_ screw up.

It had only been close to an hour since they finally arrived at Dawn Island. From afar, the island hadn't looked anything unlike what they had expected. Sure, the massive walls encircling the town as well as the giant forest that was _at least_ hundreds of years old from the sheer size and thickness of the trees' trunks was quite unusual for an island in the East Blue, but this was Dawn Island, after all.

An island that perfectly represented the world and how the existing system needed to work in order for peace to remain. Nobility could live happily and without worries, far away from the lower pests inside their expensive houses with their expensive furniture, eat expensive food, wear expensive clothes and jewelry to match e.t.c.

The rest… well, while most were innocent and could live decent lives, others weren't as lucky and would simply have to make do with whatever trash was left behind for them.

As soon as they had landed, a group of around 15 Cipher Pohl agents had gone on ahead and wandered directly into the surrounding (and seemingly never-ending) forest, thinking that was a smart course of action.

That had been the moment they all realized this island was far more than they had originally thought...

This place was seriously dangerous, not to mention _scary_! Killer _beasts_, monsters, who looked like they belonged in the Grand Line rather than such a small peaceful island like Dawn, were lurking everywhere they went.

The soldiers couldn't help but feel extremely unnerved and hold tightly on to the rifles they were carrying, as it was their only weapon - their only means of protection against those vicious '_things'_ lurking here on the island.

It was silent as they walked. (Not that the government dogs were used to chitter-chattering during missions anyway -

_"So, uh… how're your wife and kid you left alone 12 years ago to become a mindless minion for the government?" _

_"Fine… or at least I hope so. I mean, my wife screamed and begged at me to stay but, you know…_

Would just really be more awkward than anything...)

They all looked nervously around. Even if it had been quite hot when they had arrived, since it was late August and all, it was nice and cool inside the dense forest. The trees' leaves were blocking out the sun's rays and allowed only a few beams of light to shine through.

It even appeared to have been raining recently, as the air was still humid and the green leaves were covered in small glistening raindrops. It was a very beautiful sight indeed, and with the trees literally being taller than most houses were these days, also a sight quite unlike anything any of the agents had ever seen before.

It could have very easily also been a peaceful -even relaxing - walk. That is, if not for the constant growling and screeching from beasts in the nearby area, which constantly kept the soldiers guard up.

A sudden rustle from some nearby bushes caused the men to flinch from surprise and very quickly point their guns at the noise. A large creature- a bear at least 3 times their size- soon emerged with its paws up and ready to strike. It was growling angrily and drooling. _A lot_. Clearly, the bear was looking for some breakfast and fortunately (or maybe not so much) had just found some perfect pray to satisfy its hunger.

"A b-bear!?"

"W-where did it come from!?"

"Be careful! Don't underestimate it!"

All of them kept their sights locked on the monster. Their guns were pointed and ready to fire, but clearly shaking as well. They were hesitating out of fear… the creature was big and very tough-looking. Would bullets even work on it…? They couldn't help but wonder.

"_Soru!" _

While the men were still hesitating, (freakin' useless morons) another figure behind them had decided to take action.

In a blur of speed, the familiar figure appeared in front of the bear, shocking not only his men but the giant creature also.

"Shigan Oren." He said coldly. His voice was empty, robot-like even, and his expression remained emotionless as he suddenly began rapidly poking his hardened index finger into the beast's flesh. It let out a loud growl of pain as was hit over and over and over and over, but the offender was merciless and left the poor creature with no chance of escape. Bullet-like holes were left all over its body and quickly began coloring its fur red.

Needless to say, the fight was over within seconds. Soon, the big bear fell to the ground, dead on the spot.

All the nearby agents who had just witnessed that giant beast get taken out with ease couldn't help but stare in awe.

"A-amazing…!" a man stuttered.

"That's… that's what I'd expect from a man who's been trained personally by the government since he was an infant!"

"Yeah, nice going, Rob Lucci-sama!"

The men let relief wash over them. They had been saved, luckily, but unfortunately had let themselves get carried away…

Rob Lucci glared back at them. Not unusual for the killing machine that Lucci _truly_ was, even with a face as expressionless, as bland, and at the same time, as terrifying as his. It was his eyes… those eyes that had witnessed more tragedies and horrors than all other agents combined. The look he was currently giving them with those exact eyes sent icy-cold shivers down their spines, instantly shutting them up.

Lucci didn't need to be thanked for his work… he didn't need mindless weaklings to tell him he was better than them…. he simply wanted to fulfill his duty, to kill when given the chance and get to experience the thrill of taking a life.

Silence immediately filled the air. The agents were too scared to say anything, so naturally, Lucci was the first to speak:

"Let's go."

Lucci continued walking without waiting for his subordinates. They, a few seconds later though, got themselves together and hurried after him, as they had absolutely no intention of getting left behind here of all places.

"S-sir, are you really sure this is the right island? From what our intel can tell us, our target would still be just a child... Surely, living in this dangerous forest would be impossible for him on his own..."

"Of course, there's always the possibility he's managed to get himself a fake name and is living inside the city, within the safety of the walls, but such false identities and lies can only get you so far. Surely, somebody would have discovered his true intentions and identity after this many years if that were the case..."

"P-plus, this entire search was set in motion just 'cause of one tiny rumor… even if we _are_ the world government's intelligence agency, searching an entire island just to find somebody who very likely isn't here would-"

"_Would mean_ he's already lived approximately 14 years of his life undiscovered on this island without the government having the slightest clue before now… Don't forget, our target is the _son _of the revolutionary Dragon. If he is allowed to simply run around freely on this danger-filled island, his strength will evolve quickly, and he will without a doubt become a great threat the day he decides to go out into the world and cause havoc…" Lucci tensed at his own statement.

As a member of Cp9, he just _would_ not allow that to come true… the world was already filled with enough dangerous figures as it was, people with dangerous relationships and connections…. _another_ one meant double the trouble, thrice the danger, and four times as much regret for not taking care of things before it was too late.

"Even if the chances that he was even _born _are slim, as long as they're still there, we must make sure such a dangerous seed of evil is never allowed to bloom… you fools shouldn't doubt the government. Just follow orders, like always, and things are bound to turn out for the best."

And with that, the Cp9 agents stopped yapping, lowering their heads in shame, and simply walked in silence behind their commander.

That's right... they had a duty to fulfill, and failure could mean trouble for the entire _world_ eventually. Best case scenario, this really was just a false rumor, and they could report nothing to be wrong after all… Worst case, he truly was born, but already knew of their arrival and had fled the island… being the son of the leader of the revolutionary army, that was a possibility they couldn't overlook either.

The rest of their journey through the prosperous forest (it was more like a jungle honestly) was silent. No more beasts had a go at them. Maybe something scared them away, or maybe they were simply that lucky...

Big as the scary forest was, though, it didn't take the intelligent men long before they found themselves somewhere entirely different. Strangely enough, they had now exited the forest, and yet, it was just as dark as it had been while they had been walking under the protection of the big tree-tops. Massive heaps of trash and smoke now made up their surroundings, and a horrible smell of rotting food, stools, and a strange distant odder of burnt garbage instantly hit them. In other words, they had now reached Gray Terminal.

All the unfortunate people, who called this junkyard their home, quickly noticed the group of unusual visitors approaching, and send some very strange and overly surprised looks their way.

They all immediately stopped ruffling through the trash. No one dared to move... those guys seemed extremely serious, not to mention _scary_… plus, their clothing indicated they certainly weren't from this island, but still, somebody very important who could mean a lot of trouble for them...

"O-oi..! A-aren't they…!?"

"Yeah… better not mess with _those_ guys…"

"_Shh! Morons!_ Do you wanna accidentally say something that could get you killed..!?"

It very soon turned completely silent throughout Gray Terminal… something which would, normally, only _ever_ happen at night. Day time, people were busy looking through trash, and more often than not, big fights would break out if something valuable was discovered.

There was always some kind of commotion on the Gray Terminal… but during the evening, some of the more... "friendly" people would gather around a fire, tell stories and drink from dirty shitty old bottles filled with even shittier-tasting liquor, until eventually, guards from the city would come and order them to turn in already if they valued their already pathetic lives even in the slightest.

The newly arrived agents, however, paid the unwelcoming eyes no mind. All of these guys were lowlife petty criminals, outcasts from society and deemed undeserving of any better by the rest of the world… should one of them try something funny, they, as agents for the government, had not only the strength but also the authority to _kill_ every single one of them on the spot if they deemed it necessary.

The atmosphere was tense, filled with fear as well as curiosity as to what the hell such people could be doing at _Grey Terminal _of all places. Their questions, however, would soon receive an even more questionable answer, as the group of agents stopped in their tracks, eyes still glued on them when Lucci spoke:

"You."

He sent a heartless glare directly in the direction of an unfortunate man sitting nearby.

"Eh?" Confused, the nervous man looked around to verify that Lucci was actually talking to _him_. Unfortunately, nobody else even stood close to him, so he was forced to look him back in those monster-like eyes of his.

"W-who, me…?" He stuttered.

"I need you to truthfully answer my question... got that?"

His voice was a stone-cold as ever, and his eyes told everything... _"talk or die_". The man gulped, simply nodding as a response as he didn't dare do otherwise.

"We're here… searching for a certain somebody. A kid, should be around 14 years old… Would you happen to know him...? Somebody by the name Monkey D. Luffy?"

The man's eyes widened from surprise, all of his fear instantly replaced by confusion. Other nearby Grey Terminal inhabitants couldn't hide the shock from their faces either.

"L-Luffy…?"

That had... certainly come as a surprise… sure, he knew the brat. Way way way way _way_ to well, in fact. The brat was annoying as hell, running around, stealing, dine n' dashing, beating up thugs and such things, but even so... it's not like he had ever done anything _really_ bad or to seriously hurt somebody.

So then, why the hell would such important-looking figures take notice of such a weak squirt and go through the trouble of coming all the way to Dawn island - all the way to East Blue - just to find the kid?

Lucci's sudden question had caused more questions to pop up in the thug's own mind. He stared blankly in the air, his mind still trying to process everything. Unfortunately, Lucci's patience didn't last long when he received no answer from the man.

"So..?" He asked, his voice sharpening.

"W-well, there certainly _is_ a kid running around by the name Luffy... the guy might be small, but he causes nothing but trouble wherever he goes. He and his brothers always used to be together, b-but he's the only one who's still on this island."

…

_Silence. Shock. Confusion, but most noticeably, fear was invoked and filled the air from that one statement. _

"B-b..._Brothers_..?"

"So then, does that mean he isn't the only one...!?"

Panic immediately began stirring up within the ranks of the government agents. He even said "brother_**s**_" so that implied there was not only one, but at least _two_ others who shared the same blood as him.

Lucci was the only one who didn't show any kind of surprise from this (but admittedly, it was a really disturbing discovery) and just kept quiet while not taking his eyes off of the criminal before him. He never did during an interrogation, and the punk wasn't done speaking either...

"We've all heard the rumors by now... apparently, one of them died in some accident over 7 years ago, so luckily for us, that meant only two of them were left to deal with. The other, and oldest of the three, set out to sea a few months ago to become a pirate."

_Hmp?_ _A pirate, huh…? not unexpected from one with such troublesome blood_...

"And... what might this pirate's name be..?"

"Huh?" The man seemed confused as to why _his_ name would matter when they specifically asked for Luffy litteral minutes ago.

"W-well.. you guys sure seem like you'd be well informed, so… I'm sure you must know it! He's an infamous man whose risen to power and infamy faster than any rookie since the pirate king, _Gold Roger_, himself…! Not only does he have a logia-type devil fruit, the _rarest_ of the three classes, but he also became the second division commander on the legendary Whitebeard's ship a mere week ago! He's…

"_**Fire fist" Ace!**_"

The man's trembling words echoed throughout the silent junkyard, reawakening the hate in some cases for the ones who knew that pirate brat personally, but only more utter confusion and shock in the astounded agents, who this time were utterly speechless, to shocked to even flinch, to further stress out over this new piece of information.

'_Such a big shot, huh…'_

Lucci let the information sink in. This could explain why and _how_ that rookie had managed to gain power as terrifyingly quickly as he had… the only problem here was that he lived under _Whitebeard's_ protection, so getting to him would be very tricky. After all, Whitebeard was a man known far and wide across all 6 oceans to even go to _war_ should somebody dare threaten his "children."

Lucci had a hunch, though… a kind of feeling that facing the wrath of an emperor actually wouldn't become a problem. Even if it was just a knack in the back of his head, a small irritation telling him something was wrong, something about this story was wrong…

The revolutionary Dragon didn't really strike Lucci as the kind of guy who'd go around and get multiple kids… sure, one was entirely plausible, but three…? (At the bare minimum, but more than that seemed even more unlikely)

He wanted to get to the bottom of this. Hearing the story from this random thug was one thing… they could always exaggerate the things they had seen and heard, and simply assume that since they were so close and good friends, that they were brothers or something. That's how a rumor was made. A rumor was one thing. But this case was too serious for them to simply believe anything they were told… as the leader of the intelligence agency, they needed facts. True information from a very reliable source.

"Alright then, just answer this one last question:"

"_**Where does Monkey D. Luffy live?"**_

* * *

** O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

"Makino! Makino!" The doors to the bar burst open, and in sprang the familiar adorable 14-year old individual known as Luffy.

The sudden sound of the doors nearly bursting of their hinges was more than enough to make the green-haired bartender flinch from surprise, but she immediately calmed herself and instinctively smiled widely as she recognized the face of the child standing in her door.

Luffy was smiling his typical wide D-smile. He was extremely dirty for some reason, and a bunch of bruises could also be spotted everywhere on his body, indicating he had just finished his training. Luckily, it didn't look bad. (It was quite unusual for him to be seriously injured anyway).

"Luffy!" She exclaimed joyfully, immediately abandoning her post behind the counter (she had no customers to treat anyway) and hurried over to the tiny boy to give him a welcoming hug.

"It's only been a few months since we last saw each other… you've grown stronger again, haven't you?" Makino observed.

Even if you couldn't see it physically (Luffy's arms were as scrawny and stick-like as ever) Makino knew Luffy had certainly gotten better. His sheer happiness and tight grip around her more than proved it.

Luffy giggled loudly, staring straight up into Makino's familiar face.

He was really happy to see Makino again…. _really_! Time passed by slowly when he was on his own, and strangers (townsfolk), bandits, nobles, and scavengers were the only other humans past mount Corvo for him to be together with, so getting to talk with somebody he actually cared for, _who actually cared for him_, was really helpful in keeping back the temptation of not just becoming a pirate and start his adventure already, instead of having to wait another 3 long years.

Strangely enough, though, Luffy didn't pay Makino's compliment any mind… something entirely different was going on in his head, something that was making him restless and super excited.

"Hey, Makino! I have something totally cool you just _need_ to see!"

Makino blinked, slightly confused.

"Hm? What is it?"

Curiosity could be heard clearly in her voice. Luffy had come all the way to Foosha just because he had something to show off...? This was quite unusual, even nowadays where Luffy would visit more often, thanks to Ace's absence.

Luffy, however, only chuckled happily, like the child that he was, at Makino's question.

"It's a secret until you see it!"

And with those chipper and highly enthusiastic words, Luffy sprang back over to the doors, only managing to yell a quick "Hurry after me!" before he was gone just as fast, and loudly, as he had entered.

Makino looked a little bewildered after the boy, though couldn't resist letting out a chuckle shortly after.

'_He never changes, no matter how many years pass..' _Makino thought shaking her head. Immediately after, though, she felt a nice warmth spread through her body from the thought...

It was _that_ feeling… when mothers watched their kids grow up and time suddenly just began passing faster and faster... She realized the day where they would have to part ways only kept growing closer and closer, the day where Luffy would chase his dream, one he had strongly been holding onto ever since he had met Shanks all those years ago...

Makino, however, shook her head yet again, pushing the feeling aside for now and then hurried out through the doors, after Luffy to go see what the crazy boy had in store for her this time. She still had 3 whole years, and hopefully, that would be enough…

Luffy was super duper excited. The two walked through the town (well, Makino was the one doing the walking, as Luffy was running well around 30 feet ahead of her, and only stopped every now and then to tell Makino to hurry up), without meeting a single villager.

Strange as that seemed, it honestly wasn't surprising the more Makino thought about it. Most adults would be working right around now, and not many trusted their kids to simply run around freely outside where they'd be unable to watch over them. Most elderly people were probably taking a nap around this time of day, or out at sea since many worked as fishermen.

It was strange, though, even _if_ Foosha was a very quiet and peaceful village, seeing the streets totally empty like this.

Strange as it was, it was just a mere crazy coincidence. And besides, Makino had bigger worries right now than the empty feeling she got from seeing her home village totally deserted like this.

Luffy was far _far_ ahead of her - barely even visible anymore. She sped up her walking paste (though still not running) hurrying as her curiosity was still only increasing and she didn't want to accidentally lose sight of the small boy.

It didn't take long to reach their destination. Foosha village wasn't big, after all, and Luffy had only led them to the entrance to the forest. Makino, however, could barely keep herself from stumbling backward, just from pure shock, as she finally laid eyes on what was making Luffy so riled up…

"T-that's…!" Her voice was tiny from fear.

Luffy didn't seem the least bit worried. More just… like you would expect Luffy to react in this current situation, really, smiling even wider than he normally would.

"See!? I told you it was totally cool!" Luffy exclaimed, immediately breaking into a burst of joy-filled laughter.

Luffy was currently not standing on the ground. Instead, the boy, who currently looked even smaller from where Makino was standing, had decided to climb onto the back of a giant dead bear - which was at _least_ 5 or 6 times Luffy's size - and was waving proudly from its back.

Makino laughed nervously as a reply to Luffy's earlier question. She didn't really know how to describe what she was currently beholding, but cool definitely wasn't the first word that came to mind...

Something, however, very quickly struck Makino as extremely odd… something was wrong here, something wasn't how it should be, as Luffy-like as representing a catch he'd killed definitely was.

All over the beast's body, tiny bullet-like wounds -which certainly was the cause of its death- could be spotted. Her brows furrowed… Had Luffy done this to the poor bear…? It was a very gruesome way to kill an animal, and also most certainly a thing Makino, not even in her wildest dreams, could imagine Luffy would (or could for that sake) do just to get some food, even if it was _meat_.

"Say, Luffy? Did you kill this thing?" She asked hesitantly.

"Nope! I just found this thing lying dead in the forest where nobody was gonna find it and it would go to waste! The problem is it's too big for me to cook on my own, so I decided to take it here instead! Say, Makino, could you help me cook it!? I'm already starving!"

As if to amplify his point, Luffy's stomach a second later gave out a _loud_ and _long_ growl.

_Yup, definitely starving from the sound of it._

Makino blinked from disbelief, but then, once again, couldn't hold back a happy innocent chuckle from this. _Of course… this was _Luffy, _the biggest eater she had ever met, whose appetite was rivaled only by Ace's or Garp's, after all... _

"Of course I'll help you, Luffy."

Luffy's face lit up from pure happiness, and drool began dripping from his mouth simply from the thought. It had been _soooo_ long since he had gotten to eat _real_ cooking, nonetheless Makino's, the greatest cook he had met in his short life.

"YAY! Hooray! That means I get to eat Makino's delicious food again!" Luffy cheered.

Luffy, overjoyed by this, began celebrating by dancing and jumping around on the top of the bear in the most adorable and childish manner.

Makino giggled at the unusual sight, (never thought she'd get to see a kid (one made of rubber of all things) dance around happily atop a giant dead animal) But the lighthearted moment was soon interrupted by another shouting voice:

"Oi! Makino! So this is where you went off to!? And is that really you Luffy!? It's been a while, hasn't it!?"

Luffy stopped with his celebration dance, and instead turned his attention towards the direction of the voice, scouting for the owner. Since he was already much higher up than normal, it was easy to spot the giant group of cheerful inhabitants of Foosha village approaching.

They were all waving and smiling. From what Luffy could tell, _everybody_, like all the faces he could remember from 7 years ago, plus a couple he couldn't (didn't know if it was 'cause he had simply forgotten about them, or if they were new additions to the village) were in that group of approaching villagers.

In other words, basically the entire village had hiked up the hill to go greet Makino and Luffy.

Luffy couldn't keep in his happiness as he saw the familiar faces come closer, and immediately, (it was almost just an instinct to Luffy at this point) let a smile, one that could probably stop wars from how bright it was, lit across his face.

"Oi! You guys! Long-time no see, huh!?"

His happy, and outright just adorable, dance from before returned, only this time, he was waving with all his might as well.

It didn't take very long for the villagers to reach Makino and Luffy. The sight seemed odd… all the inhabitants of a village gathered on the hill like this. Not that Foosha was, by any means, a very big or in any way fancy village, but still…

"Hey, Luffy! What's wrong with you!? Why'd you go through the trouble of coming all the way down from the mountain, and then not even stay in your home village long enough to even say "hello!?" Came an angry complaint from the mayor, Woop Slap.

Luffy, however, merely laughed at the tiny man's scolding: "Sorry, sorry! I was just really hungry and wanted this thing cooked up as soon as possible… guess I just forgot or something!"

Only now did Woop Slap, and a couple of other villagers here and there, notice just _what_ the hell Luffy was actually standing on.

Their reactions were much similar to Makino's, say except for the mayor himself. His face gradually turned more and more blue from terror, for a moment looking like he was gonna have a heart attack. He, fortunately, did not, and instead, felt his already questionable balance fail him, causing him to fall backward, straight on his bum.

"Wh-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-what in Oda's name is _that_!?" He screamed, cowardly tears of fear streaming down his face.

"Shishishishishishishi! Isn't it cool!? I dragged it here myself!" Luffy proclaimed proudly. Only now did the boy bother jumping down onto the ground to stand eye to eye with the villagers.

"Amazing… are you really strong enough to do that now?"

"Of course!"

"That's impressive Luffy. I sure as hell couldn't do that when I was 14 years old…"

"Yeah, I'd say you're even much stronger than any adult man here in Foosha."

"Oi! Little brat! Answer me, just what the hell is that monster!?" Sounded another angry yelp from Woop Slap, who still sat on the ground, rubbing his sore butt.

Luffy completely ignored the old mayor (like always) and simply laughed. It was great seeing everybody again… slow as the days sometimes were, literal years had just casually passed since Luffy had properly talked with any of the villagers (say except Makino and the Mayor, of course).

(Un)fortunately, for Luffy, with so much time lost, it was only natural that the villagers a second later began bombarding Luffy with questions: "How've you been?" "Is training tough?" "Are you still eating properly? (Seeing as how Luffy was awfully skinny) and such small seemingly unimportant things.

Luffy was completely uninterested in answering any of them, though they left him no time to provide an answer or explain himself anyway.

Makino, ignoring the commotion and walked straight through the riled-up crowd and over to the still cursing Woop Slap to offer a helping hand to the fallen man. He silently accepted her help, not wanting to admit that his old age might finally had begun to catch up with him.

"Say, Luffy, now that everyone is together anyway, why not put that meat to good use? We could throw a banquet for the entire village with this thing, how does that sound!?"

"What!? A banquet!? That sounds delicious!"

Luffy's face lit up. He hadn't had a banquet for… well, ever since Ace set out to sea, but that was already many months ago! He began drooling just from the thought of getting to eat endless amounts of delicious meat.

"Then, let's build a giant fire in the center of the town. With something this big, we'll need it."

"But we're also gonna need some other kinds of food to go with the meat… some vegetables and rice sound good."

"Don't forget about plates. With so many people, we're gonna need a lot of those too, oh, and mugs too, since it won't be a party without liquor."

_"YEAH!"_ Practically all mean screamed at that last comment - no, fact.

The villagers began happily discussing the preparations. Parties, where the entire village would be involved, happened so rarely - too rarely, honestly- nowadays after all. The joy and excitement spread quickly. The villagers couldn't wait. Wait to catch up on Luffy's life and reconnect with the kid, wait to stay up way later than what should be acceptable even for adults, wait to be irresponsible and get hella drunk.

Makino, however, couldn't help but feel uneasy, despite the great atmosphere… of course, she was looking forward to having a great time with Luffy and the villagers, but… but something, a thought - a worry even - was nagging the back of her head...

Even if they were gonna put that dead bear to good use at this party, Makino just couldn't help but wonder how the hell it had died in the first place. It could impossibly have been any kind of natural reason with wounds like those… which meant...

'Somebody else must have killed it… what worries me is that this has never happened before… does.. does that mean somebody… somebody dangerous is here on this island - no - on the mountain where Luffy lives…?'

* * *

**How was that? Acceptable? I hope so *sweats intensely***

**Please keep in mind that this is only the first Chapter, and I promise I will get more exciting and heartbreaking if you just give me a little time. I already have the 2nd Chapter written, so I only need to pimp it up a bit so it isn't quite as bad. You can expect the 3rd chapter to be out soon too, as I have it about 70% written. **

**Please review: Was it good? Bad? Anything I seriously need to improve on? (If that's the case, please clarify so I know what )**

**_-Cookie_ **


	2. Investigation continues

**Hehe, told you it wasn't gonna be long before the 2nd chapter would be out. ****This is a one-time thing, though, as I already had it written and only needed to adjust and proof-read it.**

_**Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :) **_

**Well, here's what I have:**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Investigation continues**

"Can you find anything!?" A random agent shouted to his colleagues currently ravaging through the inside of a certain treehouse.

After the surprisingly polite thug had given them directions, it wasn't hard at all to find the place. The tree was the tallest around, and with the poorly built one-room treehouse with a _pirate flag_ fluttering from a pole at the very top, it really stuck out like a sore thumb in the jungle.

Rob Lucci, as well as two other agents, were rudely intruding. Seeing as how this treehouse was so small, not all of the agents could fit inside and would only turn the search into a cramped pain in the ass if they tried. As a result, the majority was just waiting on the ground, and, of course, kept a close eye on the surroundings in case somebody showed up.

"Negative. He's definitely not here, but there are clear signs of somebody living in this place!" A second random soldier shouted back.

It was messy. Despite the lack of furniture, a bunch of barrels and crates were randomly spread about and made it more difficult to get around inside. Plus, a bunch of bags filled with food were just lying around, as if to make it easy to just grab something to eat whenever.

It was nothing but junk, though. Junk, junk, junk, junk, junk, and even more junk that couldn't give them any kind of information. The only thing they got from this was that Monkey D. Luffy was not a person who liked to stay organized and keep his home clean.

The room was small, though, so naturally, it didn't take long before one of the men spotted something that was of far better use to somebody trying to learn about the life of a kid they had never met before.

"Rob Lucci-sama. Look at this."

Without saying a word, the young agent (he was only 25, after all) turned to look at his subordinate's discovery and was not disappointed by what he saw.

Right there, within plain sight on one of the walls, hang a bunch of framed pictures. Lucci stared in silence, recalling all the information he already had about the boy Cp9 was targeting as he took a quick glance, trying to identify the boy. It really wasn't that hard to spot him. Since Luffy was supposed to be the youngest brother, he concluded the tiniest straw hat-wearing child who appeared on every single picture was the one.

On each picture, the boy was either smiling or laughing carelessly and happily. (Too happily honestly…) From the perspective of an outsider, he most certainly looked just like an ordinary child...nobody would ever expect that he was actually the child of a big-time criminal like Dragon. (Luffy certainly didn't look like his father, either, but their names proved they were indeed connected). Aside from Luffy, though, two other kids also appeared on several pictures.

One of them had semi-long black hair and freckles. What seemed strange, however, was the fact that he was always frowning or stubbornly looking away from the camera.

'_That boy must be Fire fist… his appearance fits perfectly,' _Lucci concluded. Unfortunately, a grumpy child who seemed to be never smiling didn't provide any new information. Were they brothers or simply good friends? Lucci still couldn't decide.

Suddenly, though, his gaze fell upon another blonde-haired boy who also appeared beside Luffy and Ace. While those two could definitely be passed of as related, this one raised a lot of doubt.

He looked nothing like his said 'brothers'. His hair was blonde and curly, his face had another shape with no features matching either Ace's or Luffy's, and his clothing more so resembled a roughed-up _noble_ than a little dirt brat.

For some reason, though, he seemed oddly familiar… Lucci held no memory of ever meeting the boy, but he was sure that there was something... s_omething _more about him which Lucci couldn't quite put his finger on.

This blonde brat, however, only showed up on a very small amount of the pictures. He was smiling just like Luffy, though by no means as brightly or as energetically as his little brother. That, or he was blushing along with Ace as they were being embraced by another unfamiliar green-haired woman whose face Lucci also made sure to remember.

Suddenly, though, he just... wasn't there anymore.

_There was no doubt then… he must have been the third brother who, fortunately for them, had managed to get himself killed before he even got the chance to do anything._

Out of all of the pictures, though (Lucci quickly counted there to be 11), three of them in particular definitely caught Lucci's interest.

On the first, all three brothers were present, as well as a big group of people who Lucci recognized as the bandits living on this island, the Dadan family. They were all gathered outside of a shed, a house that very likely was their hideout. It wasn't like those bandits would be of any real threat to their operation... after all, the leader had a bounty of only 7.800.000 Beli - a bounty very fitting for a criminal in the _East blue_. What bothered him, though, was the fact that this picture could mean those no-name bandits had been hiding those kids for all those years…

If that was the case, then it was no _wonder_ the government hadn't gotten wind of this any sooner. Since the navy wouldn't even bother with such small fries, no investigation would have ever been made if not for this rumor.

Lucci shifted his attention to the next picture of interest, one that had to have been taken more recently. It showed a small boat sailing off, towards a blindingly bright sun in the distance. Luffy, who was now much older, alongside the bandits and that green-haired woman, were happily waving goodbye. This could really just mean one thing… that that specific picture had been taken on the day - at the very moment - where Ace had begun his journey at sea.

For some strange reason, that picture reminded him of something he had heard a while ago… the pirate king Gold Roger himself had also started out in the East Blue, started with nothing and then risen to his current status within just a few years. It had probably - no, certainly - been a lot similar to that picture... the day of the pirate king's departure, that is.

While the picture itself held no important information, it for some reason reminded Lucci of that very disturbing fact, one that he did _not_ like.

The last of the three pictures, however… was _definitely_ the most troublesome of the three…

Lucci had stared intensely at it for the last minute but only felt more and more worry creep its way into his mind the longer he glared… It made no absolute sense… and yet, with this crucial piece of evidence hanging right before his eyes, how could it possibly not be true…? Lucci silently took the old picture off the wall to get a closer look, for a moment doubting if his eye were deceiving him or something.

While Lucci (at least on the outside) remained calm as he examined it further, the other two agents couldn't hide their shock when they laid eyes on it.

"...What…!?"

"Is that…!?"

"Yeah… there's no doubt," Lucci answered blatantly.

In this picture, Luffy was, of course present. He seemed younger than on any of the other pictures, even if only be a couple of months... To no surprise, he was smiling extraordinarily brightly on this one as well. (Lucci was seriously beginning to think smiling was all he could do).

The people _around_ Luffy, though, was what caused Lucci to nearly start panicking. Although they, too, were younger, their faces were all _terribly _familiar...

"This indeed appears to be him… the Yonko, Red hair Shanks!"

The two others remained speechless…. this… couldn't be true, right…?

Shanks… a Yonko, one of the freaking _Emperors of the sea_... and still, that brat seemed to be completely careless in the way he was comfortably sitting on the red-heads shoulders. They looked happy together… like… like _friends_ or something!

"About 7 years ago, the government received news about Red-haired Shanks being spotted on multiple islands here in the East Blue." Lucci suddenly said bluntly.

_"EH!?"_

"W-wait, sir… you… don't mean to say that…?"

"Yeah... Of course, the government was watching his movements carefully. It's very rare for one of the emperors to even leave the New World these days, so one of them casually coming to the weakest of the four blues, of course, raised a lot of suspicions. In the end, he settled down on a single island where he stayed for an entire year, only to return to the grand line with a missing arm and without his straw hat."

Lucci stared back down at the picture in his hands, feeling the anger begin to dangerously rile itself up inside him.

_Damn! This explained everything! For some reason, Red-haired Shanks lost his arm for that boy… he even left his straw hat, the exact same one he before had never been seen without, to _that _brat... __Surely, something much deeper, something Lucci couldn't figure out by these pictures alone, had happened between them. How Shanks had even lost his arm in the first place was as good as anyone's guess, but he had done it for him. For Luffy. For the son of Dragon. _

_Luffy hadn't even gone out to sea yet, and already he had done something _this _troublesome. _

"Oi! Y-you guys! Big -and _bad_\- news!" Exclaimed one of the two freaked out agents as he hurried back down to the ground to inform his colleagues about this recent shocking discovery.

Lucci stood still, unmoved by the panic that immediately began stirring up as the disturbing news were delivered and the soldiers all began freaking out more than they, as agents working under Cp9, should ever allow themselves too.

A dark shadow was now covering his anger-filled eyes. He was as silent as ever, but anyone would be able to tell his mood had worsened by the new information they had acquired...

"R-Rob Lucci-sama, what should we do now..?"

The distressed agent, however, received no immediate answer from his superior. A tension-filled silence suddenly broke out inside the tiny treehouse.

Lucci was thinking about everything they'd learned within the small amount of time they had spent here on this island…

_Dragon potentially had not only one, but two sons (excluding the one who was dead and of no problem anymore) and one of those said sons could be Fire fist Ace, second division commander on Whitebeard's ship. __What was more, Monkey D. Luffy and Red-hair Shanks had met and befriended each other to such an extent the Yonko was willing to seemingly pay any price for him… They'd have to be careful. Extremely careful unless they wanted to invoke the wrath of not only 1 but_ **2**_ freakin emperors_.

"What do we do now you ask?"

Lucci's voice remained unshaken. There was, though, an underlying tone in his voice… a tone of seriousness even Lucci didn't normally show. His determination to accomplish this mission seemed absolute… he sounded even _desperate_ to make sure this situation would not turn into a bigger incident.

"Call the rest of the agents who're still at the ship. We'll set up an ambush and wait for him here. That boy must be captured no matter what."

"Yessir, but… what if he doesn't return? There's always the chance that he's hiding somewhere and could escape while we're sitting and waiting…"

_Right… that was a possibility as well. They'd have to think carefully about their next moves..._

"Then let's split into two groups. I'll take the majority of the men already here and head out to keep searching throughout the night. Even if his hiding places are limited on this island, looking for him during the night will be easier with a bigger group. The other one stays here…"

"Oh, and _do_ be sure to take extra measures to ensure that he won't run away as well." He added shortly after.

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

"Boss! Boss! I've got bad news!"

Suddenly, the door to the home of the infamous Dadan family burst open, and in ran a small mountain bandit known as Dogra. The man was panting hard, though the panic on his face showed his burning lungs were probably the least of his current worries. The other bandits currently inside got uncomfortable by his unusual behavior. They knew the man had no good news to deliver...

In the corner of the small hut, the leader of the small pathetic group of thieves, Curly Dadan, had been lying for the past 20 minutes and napping. The sudden sound of the door thrusting open, however, was enough to make the snot bubble coming from her nose pop, and her eyes immediately shot open.

"H-huh…!? W-what now?"

Dadan was confused, as it took her a few seconds to realize she was no longer sleeping.

"Boss it's terrible!" Dogra repeated.

"Hey, hey. Now, calm down Dogra, and tell us what happened," Came a reassuring reply from another bandit, Magra.

"What's going on now, Dogra? You're disturbing my afternoon nap," Dadan growled, dissatisfied with suddenly being awoken like that.

Ever since the Dadan family had (against their own will,_ of course_) taken care of three certain brats, the orange-haired woman had had many sleepless nights and had therefore resorted to getting most of her hours by taking naps during the day instead.

Although the kids had long since moved out, it was a habit that had stuck with her. Even if she did get to sleep during nighttime now, she'd always be even grumpier than usual if she didn't take time off to slumber at least a couple of times during the day.

"If it's just another group of annoying thugs looking to steal from us, tell them to scram before I decide to go kill them myself." Dadan snorted.

The woman turned her back to the others in annoyance, fiddling around on the floor as she tried to find a comfortable position to lie in so she could go back to sleep again.

"No! That's not it! There's trouble...! A little while ago, some strange men showed up at the brats' base. They've got the place completely surrounded!"

_Suddenly, Dadan didn't feel like dozing off and sleeping anymore…_

"What!?" Her eyes widened considerably, and immediately, she shot back up into a sitting position and turned around to stare at Dogra, now fully listening to what he had to say. She clenched her fist in anger and then slammed it into the wooden floor, splintering the floorboards upon impact.

"Who are those guys..?! Thugs? Nobles?! Somebody who's out for revenge against the brats?!"

_Dadan would never admit it under any normal circumstances, but she truly and full-heartedly cared for those three as if they were her own. She knew she was a really crappy mother-figure to the three… she knew she hadn't treated them as nicely as she could have, but that didn't mean she wouldn't get mad when somebody dared to threaten them!_

And she had always known that something like this could very much happen one day. Those three had simply made too many enemies on this island... it definitely made sense that somebody would think of getting revenge for something one of them had done… (If that was the case, the real problem here would be figured out just _what_ trouble Luffy had caused this time)

"A-actually, those were some guys I've never seen before." Dogra stuttered shortly after.

"Huh?"

All members of the Dadan family blinked from confusion. Outsiders…? But what would _they_ know about the kids, and why and how had they managed to find their home in the first place..?

"Don't be too surprised yet, 'cause it gets even crazier than that…! Those guys all wore totally black suits and were armed with rifles, so they're most certainly not just some nobodies… plus, every single one of them wore the mark of the _world government_ too!"

_Dadan's cigarette fell from her mouth and onto the floor. If her eyes had been wide from surprise before, they were now brimming with an overwhelming amount of fear never before seen in the criminal woman's eyes._

"What did you say…?"

_Those few weak words were all that managed to come out of her mouth..._

"The world government!?"

"But… b-but what are _they_ doing on Dawn island!?"

"Has all of Ace's and Luffy's small-time crimes somehow caught the attention of the navy!?"

"But why!? Luffy's still just a kid, after all! He's definitely annoying, but _surely_ not to _this_ extent, right!?"

Confusion and panic arose inside the cramped hut. Everybody quickly become more and more riled up, and more and more of them began talking louder and louder until eventually, all their voices mixed together into an ocean of voices trying to outshout each other.

Normally, this would be the point where Dadan would get mad and yell at them to shut the hell up, tell them to calm down, that they were all dimwitted for overreacting like that, and then they'd all head out together and fix things, even if it was a big pain in their asses.

However, the woman remained quiet (way quieter than what seemed healthy for somebody who was screaming 78% of the time) and stared into the cracked floor planks with an utmost worried glint in her eyes. Cold sweat was running down her forehead, though a deep frown could be spotted on her face. For some strange reason, she was - amidst all this panic - remembering a certain something that happened a long time ago...

**_Flashback:_**

"_So? What's wrong, Garp-san?"_

_The two adults were currently sitting on the very edge of Dawn island, atop the grassy cliffs that provided them a magnificent view of the ocean. While the sight of the glistening water and the perfect sunny weather was indeed beautiful, Garp and Dadan rarely ever came to this place. When they, however, did go through the trouble of coming all the way out there, it always meant there was something serious the elderly marine vice-admiral wanted to discuss. _

_Garp sighed. It was not often one would see the cheerful and carefree grandpa frowning like he was right now. _

"_Oi, Dadan... Tell me, do you know the reason I need Ace and Luffy to become great marines?" He questioned. His voice was low and hoarse... filled with utter regret from the mistakes he'd made...from the mistakes that he very well still could make._

"_Huh? How the hell am I supposed to know that?! You seem just like a crazy grandpa who's obsessed with the navy or somethin'" _

_The old man grinned nervously in response. While that most certainly had _some _part to play here, there was something more… yet another (all the "YOU DAMN BETTER BECOME A MARINE!" aside) honestly much darker reason for his actions. _

"_I've already told you about Ace and his dad. If the world ever found out that he's Roger's son, he'd become one of the most notorious criminals out there regardless of his age and of his actions. The entire world would turn against him and try to exterminate the last successor of Roger's bloodline… that's the reason he's hidden away here on Dawn island for now…" _

"_So? You've already told me this once before. If you have a point to make, then just say it." Dadan was impatient. Even if she had come to somewhat *ahem* 'not-so-much-hate' the brats, she could never forget about that daunting parentage Ace had and of the severe consequences she'd have to face if his secret was ever spoiled. Therefore, Ace's heritage wasn't exactly her favorite subject to discuss. _

_Garp remained silent though. As a marine vice-admiral, he knew of the corruption of the world government…. he knew, way more than he himself even realized. He knew of the horrible things the nobles got away with doing... the things the navy would often hide from the public simply because it would tarnish their good name. Sure, he knew about it, but for the most part, he chose simply to ignore that corruption. The system he worked for was corrupt without a doubt, but at least it was still better than letting anarchy overthrow the world and let pirates roam freely. _

_Garp also knew one other thing. Bloodlines mattered a lot in the government's eyes. Blood. Heritage. The pure havoc and chaos your descendants might have caused. Either of those things being tarnished never leads to anything good... _

_This was the one part of the corruption Garp couldn't simply ignore. Not with grandchildren as troublesome as his own…_

"_Well, Dadan… you see, Luffy is... just like Ace."_

_Dadan's jaw dropped to the ground. Well, of course… of _course! _That_ did_ explain how tough the little rat was, but… really… _really…!?

'_And he decides to tell me now of all times..!?' _

"_Oi, oi! Don't tell me he and Ace are _actual _brothers! As if _**one** _son of Roger wasn't bad enough, are you telling me there are actually _two_!?"_

_Garp, however, merely laughed at Dadan's shrieking outburst. She stared at him in confusion, really not understanding what the old geezer found so damn funny. _

"_Guess I shoulda' been a bit more specific, huh...? Ace and Luffy are the same in regards to their fathers, but they don't share the same blood. Luffy _is _my grandson, after all… unfortunately, that bloodline would also mean his dad is my idiotic son. Dragon…. the revolutionary."_

_..._

_..._

_Blink blink._

_..._

_..._

"_D-DRAGON...!? You mean to tell that not only is Ace's dad the most notorious and infamous pirate to have sailed the sea, but that other little dumbass squirt's dad is _**the** _most wanted man in the world!?"_

'_Just what the hell is wrong with that crazy family!?' Dadan thought with a silent cry._

"_Yeah, trust me, I wish it was a lie too... You must know them by now, right Dadan? Ace and Luffy... they're still only just children, but even so, they need to grow up and grow strong fast..." _

_Garp raised his head (it was always lowered when he needed to discuss this grim stuff) and stared at the cloudless blue sky. _

_Ah yes, the sky. The sky was, second to the ocean, of course, a true sign of freedom. Those who were trapped and lived the most miserable of miserable lives could often not see it. That's how you'd know you've reached rock bottom... If you can't see it….see how vast the sky is and how insignificant you and your worries are compared to it. _

"_Luffy and Ace just _need _to become strong and respected marines no matter what. Under normal circumstances, I'd have to take full responsibility for Dragon's actions as his biological father… Fortunately, I'm the marine _hero_, Garp the fist. With a title like that, even the government turns somewhat of a blind eye to my bloodline… that's why… no _matter _what, Luffy and Ace just need to become marines. So that the world will give them a _chance _to prove they won't be like their fathers…"_

_Dadan stood speechless and astounded by Garp's speech. She… she had never even thought of that… that, the marines, in the end, could maybe protect Ace and Luffy from themselves - well from their father's names and history. Just like herself, Garp wasn't really the best at showing how much he really cared about those troublesome brats…_

_But he truly did. He wanted only for them to live in the best way possible under their unfortunate circumstances… even if it wasn't exactly the life they wanted. Just like flowers don't get to choose where to bloom, children don't get to choose their parents either… _

"_Hey, Dadan...?" _

"_Hm?"_

"_Take good care of them for me for now, would you…?"_

**_Flashback end._**

Dadan sighed heavily…

This was the worst thing that could possibly happen right now… Ace was at sea, and fortunately living under Whitebeard's protection, which meant _he_ was out of harm's way. She swore, if _Whitebeard_ ever let anything happen to her brat, she'd become a pirate herself, set out and murder him, _Yonko or not_!

And now… this had happened…. Luffy was still far too young and weak to stand against the world. If his secret was out already and he was captured here, it would be all over for the 14-year old.

"Dogra? Where is Luffy? Was he captured by those government guys!?"

Dadan got on her feet and stood tall and determined like the protective adoptive mother that she was. Even if Garp hadn't gone and told her everything, she was still gonna help the brat. He, as well as Ace, were _her_ pains in the asses, _her _damn responsibility. Those guys better not have done anything to hurt _her_ brat, or _else_ they would get to feel the true wrath of the Dadan family!

"No, fortunately, he didn't seem to be home when they showed up. I guess he must be out training somewhere… but they're waiting for him, and Luffy's gonna walk right into their trap once he returns!"

"Tch, and the little dumbass is too stupid to realize something's going on before it's too late… but if they haven't found him yet, that means there's still time!" Dadan turned around yet again to look at her fellow bandits.

Sure, they were a pathetic bunch of cowards and weaklings, but currently, they were a riled up and enraged pathetic bunch of cowards and weaklings not to be underestimated. They all slowly got to their feet, swords, axes, and knives held tightly in their hands. They were ready to fight, outclassed by those whoevers from the government or not!

First things first though…

_Luffy… wherever he was, they all intended to find and protect their little goofball._

* * *

**Again, please just bear with me a little longer, I swear this story is gonna get better in just one or two more chapters! I just personally like a little build-up before jumping straight into the dark/good/sad stuff. (Not that I at all mind stories that just get straight to the point, but I've just decided not to with mine)**

**Chapter 3 will, hopefully, be out either tomorrow or Friday, all depending on how long it ends up being.**

**Feel free to review, or just follow or favorite if that's all you're comfortable with doing.**

_**-Cookie**_


	3. The happy before the tragedy

**Alright! finally done with this thing. (No joke, I literally spent like 7 hours writing and proofreading this 3 times) **

**Just a quick disclaimer, from this point on, I**** WILL include some OC (Original Characters) in this story. You don't need to care in the least about them or what happens to them, (unless you want to of course) as most of them will only be around for 1 or 2 chapters tops. **

**(Well, maybe I will have just one exception later on :)**

_**Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :) **_

**Here's the chapter:**

* * *

**Chapter 3: The happy before the tragedy**

"As I said, this guy I knew once could easily take out at least _5 _monsters with ease! I met 'em when I was sailing around in the West blue, he was a real barbarian I tell ya."

"Wheally!? That sounds awhesome!" Came and unclear reply from Luffy whose mouth was currently filled with delicious meat.

The man making the bold claim was one of the bigger and more rough-around-the-edges kinda guys (aka Hans) here in Foosha village, even if he was an old geezer. He took a big and satisfying sip from the sake-filled mug in his hands to clear his throat, completely emptying it in a only a few mere gulps.

Around them, the party was already in full motion and the villagers were fully enjoying themselves. The preparations had taken a while to complete, so when everybody had prepared, and (most importantly) when the food finally was ready, the sky had already turned dark and night had arrived.

The villagers had built a big fire, not too massive or dangerous, but still of an appropriate size to cook the meat, which they had all gathered around. Some of the drunken men were already singing and happily dancing around the flames, while most of the women were busy distributing liquor and meat to those still eating.

Luffy had sat impatiently and waited, refusing to help out while he was still hungry. Makino had fed him with a sigh, but after his energy had been restored, Luffy had been rushing around, helping the men chopping wood, carried the many barrels of liquor into the plaza, and, of course, dragged the dead bear the last bit of the way into Foosha village where the party took place.

That had been over an hour ago, so it was needless to say, that the small rubber kid had was already starving yet again.

Luffy had found himself a nice spot on the ground close to the fire where more meat was constantly getting served, so he with his rubber arms easily could reach for more. For the last couple of minutes, he had been sitting and eating non-stop while listening to the very intriguing story of "that one time our ship wrecked in a storm and we were forced to steal from a thief to not starve to death."

"Of course it's true! The man was merciless, and killed even women and children to steal from them! Plus, he was a 18 feet tall giant I tell you! My crew and I barely escaped with our lives intact," he bragged yet again.

"Needles killing is stupid! I don't like that guy!" Luffy concluded, frowning as he madly took another bite from the chunk of meat in his hands.

"Oi Hans! You shouldn't tell Luffy lies like that!" Another old man from a nearby group yelled teasingly.

**_3..._**

"Oh god… here they go again…"

**_2..._**

"Do they never grow up? They're like children fighting over whose sandcastle is the most impressive…"

**_1..._**

"You shut up Gen! Although we both used to be sailors, my crew was always better than yours, and you know it! You were a pathetic bunch, nothing but cowards which is why you just didn't experience anything interesting enough to tell of!"

"What was that!?"

"You heard me! You retired a year earlier than me, all because you found the dangers of the sea too overwhelming, right… _coward_?"

"Well, at least I actually accomplished something with my voyages! What's the most valuable merchandise you've ever managed to bring back, huh… _useless?_"

Their fury-filled eyes met, and electricity crackled from the death-glares the two old rivals were giving each other. Even if they were now way past the age of 30, even 40, their minds would forever remain as that of some 10-year olds.

"Shishishishishishi! You old geezers sure are funny!" A big pure smile of joy spread across Luffy's face as he laughed happily from the unserious drabble the two older men were having.

The child's comment was enough to make the two stubbornly turn their backs to each other. They simultaneously growled at a nearby woman to get them some more sake, and from that point on, no more insults were heard from either of them.

Makino, who like many others, had just witnessed their childish fight, chuckled in delight.

The green-haired woman was sitting on the ground as well, currently just taking a short break from cooking. It had taken the convincing of countless women plus Luffy's puppy-dog eyes to finally get her to relax and enjoy the party as well. She was used to working hard and had insisted that she could keep cooking, but to no avail.

'_Gen and Hans… those two will never change no matter how old they might be…'_

She smiled widely from the thought, though her attention (it was instinct at this point) quickly shifted to Luffy instead. The poor boy had just run out of meat to devour. As soon as a woman carrying a meat-filled tray walked past him, Luffy stretched his arms and snatched it all in an instant, shocking the poor lady who fell on her bum from shock, though immediately calmed down as she saw it had just been Luffy.

A quick "Sorry!" could be heard from the smiling and giggling boy before his mouth yet again got filled with meat, and any words he from then on uttered was incomprehensible.

"Hmp. You'd imagine that he'd be a least a little bigger and less scrawny and skinny after eating that much…"

Woop Slap, who had made himself comfortable on the ground beside Makino, looked worried at the kid, getting the usual uneasy and worried feeling in his stomach whenever that topic was mentioned by himself or by someone else.

Luffy was _still_ going at it, and was even earning some… well, utmost _surprised_ looks from the nearby adults by how quickly that mountain of meat before him was disappearing.

Despite the amount he was scarfing down, everybody knew he would remain a skinny and tiny kid... even when he would gain a _lot_ of weight (which usually always happened when the amount of food he devoured passed what a normal human body should be able to contain) all he needed to return to the worrisome state of a helpless-looking child was to just run or sleep it off.

It had been that way his entire life, though especially after eating his devil fruit had it become clear that Luffy was smaller and much thinner than a boy his age should be…

Even as much as Woop Slap yelled at Luffy, told him he was a rude little ungrateful brat, and got worked up when he was ignored, Makino knew he truly did care for the child and for his health, and just like herself, he too was worried about if something was actually wrong with the ever-smiling kid... something that maybe could cause him problems as he grew older, or could lead to him getting a disease or something...

"Let's just give it a little time, for now, Mayor. Luffy's still just a child, which means he still has time left to get bigger, hopefully. Besides, even if he _is_ small, he's growing stronger and stronger for each passing day. If we keep worrying about something like his size, then it really won't be easy for us to let go once he set out to sea, right?" Makino said trying her best to smile.

It was, however, a clear as the sky on a cloudless day that the green-haired woman wasn't looking forward to having to say goodbye to the boy who she had known and protected before he could even talk or walk.

"Makino… you really like that reckless little brat, don't you?" Woop Slap asked though the answer was very very obvious. He smiled, something which was incredibly rare for the ever-grumpy major.

Makino remained silent, gazing at the ground with a frown. That shining look of protectiveness and worry could be spotted clearly in her eyes, proving the mayor's observation to be accurate.

It was true that Makino cared deeply for that kid. If anything, she'd be the happiest if she could forever be there and take care of him, but she knew Luffy wasn't the kind of kid who'd be satisfied with that.

He had a dream… to set out to sea and become the king of all pirates. It sounded adorable when it came from his mouth, and Makino honestly had no clue if he could even do it, but she wasn't gonna try to stop him from doing what he desired.

If he succeeded, she'd be there and cheer for him every step of the way until he had reached his goal…

If he failed, she'd be there waiting and happily welcome him back with open arms, no matter what he might have done as a pirate...

Whichever of the two would be fine with her really, but most of all, she just wished for Luffy to be happy. With that thought, she pushed her own emotions aside with an innerly sigh and let a smile spread on her lips as she glanced over at Luffy yet again.

The boy had joined in on dancing around the fire. Being the little bundle of energy that he was, he stood out by dancing more… well, creatively and widely, certainly. He was singing loudly and was slightly off tune, but… at least he seemed to be having an endless amount of fun while doing it.

She couldn't help but let out an innocent chuckle of happiness by the adorable sight.

"I'll be fine, mayor. I just gotta make sure to enjoy the last few years we have together as much as possible, right?"

Woop Slap said nothing to this particular comment.

"Hmp! Guess that means we'll have to put up with that brat for 3 more years! And what a disgrace it is to Foosha and to his grandpa that he wants to be a pirate! Honestly, that boy is nothing but-"

The mayor's complaint was cut short.

"Oi, just what do you guys think you're doing!? No pouring alcohol on the flowers, you hear me!?"

In just the blink of an eye, the small old man was on his feet and madly running towards a couple of drunken villagers who seemed to have gotten the idea into their heads that the _flowers_ should also be let in on the fun of their party.

Yeeaaahhhh… there _definitely_ was a reason, _a very good one at that_, as to why Foosha village did not often throw parties such as this one.

Makino laughed at the mayor's attempt to scold the adults for their stupidity and for managing to get themselves _that_ drunk. As usual, the grown-ups, however, just ignored the tiny pouting man, much to the poor old man's dismay and annoyance. Strange as it would seem to any outsider, an elderly man who also just so happened to be the _mayor_ of the entire village being ignored completely and even laughed at, here at Foosha, it was a common occurrence, which also proved that _Woop Slap_ would never change either.

Suddenly though, like a bolt of lightning striking from a clear blue sky, Makino remembered… she remembered something that had been sitting in the back of her mind for the last weak, which she, unfortunately, had completely forgotten about until now.

"That's right! Oi, Luffy, Ace-kun was in the news not too long ago."

Just the mention of his older brother's name seemed to be more than enough to catch Luffy's full attention.

"What!? Ace was!?"

Luffy sprang from where he was currently standing, and (despite his short legs), only took a few steps before he plopped down on the ground into a comfortable position right by Makino's side.

Even if Luffy was usually extraordinarily impatient and, for the love of Oda, could _not_ sit still, this was one of the rare exceptions to his usual behavior. Few things interested the simple-minded kid, Luffy.

Except for, of course, his big brother, another certain red-haired pirate was also a very intriguing subject for Luffy, one who he could - and _would _\- talk for hours upon hours about when given the chance. Anything involving pirates and exciting adventures would, of course, also successfully make the boy light up with excitement.

"How is he? Do you know what he's doing!? Where is he right now!?"

Luffy began rapidly asking Makino questions, not stopping to give her a chance to answer even a single one.

He just couldn't help it. Not that he was worried about Ace or anything of the sort! He was strong after all, stronger than him, and strong enough to currently be having an amazing adventure of his own - one Luffy was very much interested in hearing about.

Nothing outstanding ever happened here on Dawn Island. Sure, Luffy didn't mind staying here for now while he was still training, but he seriously couldn't _wait_ for the day he got to set out to sea too!

"Well…" Makino began as soon as Luffy ran out of breath and questions to ask.

"Seems like Ace-kun has decided to join up with the Whitebeard pirates. Not only that, but his bounty has skyrocketed after he was even appointed to be the new commander of the second division. That makes him one of the most infamous and dangerous pirates out there, quite amazing, isn't it?"

Luffy though, stared bluntly into the air, blinking in confusion as his brain was still processing the green-haired woman's words.

...

"_EEHHHHHHH!?_ You mean to tell me Ace has joined another pirate crew!?"

"Yeah, I was shocked too when I read it. You two always used to fight to no end over who would get to be the captain..." She giggled from the fond memory. "Who would have thought he would end up sailing under the flag of someone else after all those years..?"

Makino turned her gaze to the burning flames of the fire. According to the news, Ace had even gained the nickname "Fire Fist" Ace, and from his wanted poster alone, Makino could only assume he too had eaten a devil fruit, just like Luffy.

She missed the boy as well… Even if she didn't know him to the same extent as Luffy, she still cared deeply for him and had many cherished memories of the time she had spent teaching the boys manners. (Ah yes, that never failed to make her laugh)

"Say Luffy, are you upset that Ace-kun isn't the captain of his own crew?"

"Upset? Of course not! If Ace joined up with those guys, then that must mean that he really trusts them! After everything that's happened, I'm just happy Ace managed to find some people he likes!" Luffy exclaimed, smiling brightly from relief.

_Ace really had never been one to trust others… with the exception of himself, Makino, and maybe Dadan, Ace never let his guard down when he was in the presence of anybody… It was like you could always feel a certain something lurking in Ace's shadow... hatred, disgust, fear, anguish, loneliness… all those bad emotions which had led Ace to completely distrust everybody. _

_Well, all that just gave him all the more reason to be thankful and happy on Ace's behalf. If he ever met these supposed Whitebeards, he'd thank them personally for taking care of Ace. _

"...Ah! But, Makino, when I set out, I'm not gonna join anybody, got that?"

Luffy added that last sentence just to be sure Makino wouldn't end up thinking he would do the same. No! He was gonna be the pirate king. The pirate king couldn't work under somebody. He was supposed to be the freest person on the 6 seas, one who'd also get to experience an amazing adventure while searching for and discovering the legendary One Piece!

"Of course, of course." Makino agreed, being fully aware that the child really meant what he claimed.

"Oi, Luffy, don't just hang around Makino!"

"Yeah, ever since Garp-san dragged you off to train on your own in the mountain, none of us have gotten to see you, you know!"

"Not now! I wanna hear about Ace!" Luffy said rudely.

"Oh, c'mon kiddo! Don't be shy, this party is thanks to you _and_ in your honor after all!"

The villagers completely ignored the boys complaining and merely laughed like the drunk and carefree people that they were. They ended up dragging Luffy away from Makino, much to Luffy's annoyance. The villagers were, however, quickly forgiven when the kid was handed more meat to chow on, and he, surprisingly enough, soon temporarily forgot about Ace as more and more people swarmed around the boy, eager to tell him stories Luffy quickly became just as eager to listen to.

One story, in particular, seemed to catch Luffy's attention… something about an island in the grand line where littered _giants_ were viciously fighting every single day. (Of course, the man who told the story had never been to said island… it was really just a myth a good friend of his had told him once). _That _had certainly managed to entertain Luffy, whose eyes sparkled from awe and excitement.

Makino watched from afar with a relaxed smile on her face. Even if it was getting pretty late and they'd soon have to stop for the night, she wished the party could last longer… she wished that Luffy's laughter, which also inevitably made all the villagers laugh loudly alongside him, could last longer…

But it wouldn't be long before the 14-year old would tire and possibly fall asleep right where he was standing, and that would kinda mark the end of the banquet.

"You just gonna sit there and stare at him for the remaining time… ?" a voice suddenly said, snapping Makino back to reality.

The surprised green-haired woman gazed over at the owner of the voice and saw a close friend of hers, a chestnut-haired woman with a ponytail and apron. She was staring down at Makino with that utter look of disbelief on her face. She nearly looked like she wanted to shake her head from how hopeless Makino could be sometimes.

"Oh, Ava. Sorry, I didn't notice you."

The woman named Ava placed her hands of her hips and let out a deep long sigh, shaking her head from disappointment.

"You see, this is the problem, Makino. Loosen up a bit, would you? You're way too tense! Even _you_ have to take your eyes off of the kid every now and then. Trust me, as a mother to five children, I _really_ should know."

Ava smiled cheekily.

"Well, it just so happens that I'm not Luffy's mother, which means that you don't get to give advice on what I should and shouldn't do," Makino pouted annoyed, turning away her head to prevent further eye contact after that last 'insult.'

That reaction proved why Ava and Makino were considered to be such close friends. It wasn't many people who could get the forever-loving and caring Makino to be annoyed in such a way.

But Makino knew, of course. She knew she wasn't Luffy's mother… technically, she had nothing to do with the boy. She wasn't scared of admitting that. That was simply the truth, after all. But just 'cause they weren't officially family, Makino sure as hell cared for Luffy as if he truly was her son… even if she had been a mere 12 years old when he was born, she had still always been a part of his carefree joyous life and had made it her responsibility to look out for the child.

Luffy simply was that kind of kid. He and his smile were _so so_ precious, something Makino knew she wasn't alone in wanting to protect.

"Come on now, Makino. Don't be like that. Even you gotta admit you're being a little clingy, right? Being clingy isn't good for your skin."

"Who told you that?"

"My mom. She was a strict woman, one who also told me to encourage my friend to let loose a bit sometimes."

Ava stretched out her arm, offering Makino a helping hand.

"What do you say? Help a good old fried fetch some water to put out this fire…? I'm sure it won't be long before the guys will start dropping like flies. Us girls gotta be at least a little responsible, you know? Clean up after those drunkasses," Ava said slyly.

Makino furrowed her brows. Seriously? Like, _seriously_ seriously? Teasing her, and then the very next second asking for her help?

_Yup, sure as hell seemed like the Ava Makino knew. _

The green-haired woman sighed deeply, knowing (from experience. Man, Ava had, even after 15 years, not forgotten that time Makino had had her first crush and then been so distracted she had messed up all the work in the bar) that there was no way she could refuse, or she'd never hear the end of Ava's teasing.

Makino accepted Ava's help to stand, causing a big grin of victory to spread across Ava's delighted face.

"That's the spirit! Come on come on, let's go!"

Ava grabbed Makino's wrist, forcefully dragging her away. Away from the party, away from the laughter and singing, and away from Luffy and the others. For a second, Makino almost felt like complaining (Ava's grip was too tight, and they hadn't told anybody where they were going) but in the end, didn't as it wouldn't matter anyway to Ava.

As they walked further and further away from the party, it became not only darker but a lot chillier as well. Without the fire to heat them up, and with a mild, though cool breeze blowing from behind, the temperature was quickly dropping. It only proved the long scorching summer with lukewarm nights was ending, and autumn filled with wind and rain was quickly approaching.

Despite getting a few goosebumps from the cold, Makino smiled warmly. She didn't know why exactly, but she did.

_Maybe that's how Luffy always felt when he smiled. Always, in almost every memory Makino had of the boy, (except for that one time he had his tearful goodbye with a certain redhead she herself had come to like) he was always smiling. Makino had since long ago given up on trying to find a reason as to why. Her best current guess was, "well, Luffy was simply being Luffy," and honestly, that was probably the best answer she would ever be able to find no matter how long or hard she thought._

The night sky was clear of clouds, providing a perfect view of the sparkling stars and half-full moon. Aside from the sounds of the party still going strong in the far-off distance, it was amazingly quiet. No animals, no people… just her and Ava's footsteps as they continued down the path on their quest to grab some water.

The silence was awfully calming...(Makino's quickly realized how tired she actually was), so much so that the poor woman nearly jumped from surprised when Ava suddenly spoke up:

"Say, Makino. Have you ever thought about getting a child? I mean, I know you've already got your hands full with Luffy and all, but… what about one that's truly yours? A son or a daughter who'll be with you from the very moment they're born and hopefully by your side when you… you know."

Ava's playful tone from before was completely gone, and only the proud and forever-loving mother even Ava would sometimes become was showing. She looked directly into Makino's eyes with a shiny glint of curiosity in her fawn eyes.

Makino's brows furrowed.

_No. Surprisingly, she never _had _thought of that before. _

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Just curious."

It went silent again, only this time, it felt a bit more awkward. Unlike normal where they would both just choose to keep quiet, this was more like neither of them _knew_ exactly how to continue their conversation. Luckily for both of them, it didn't last more than a few drawn-out seconds:

"Hey, Makino?"

"Yes?"

"You'd make a damn fine mother, you know that?"

Makino immediately felt her cheeks turn red from the compliment, and she turned her gaze to the ground, avoiding looking into Ava's honest eyes. Nobody had ever told her that - well, at least not as direct as this.

Ava laughed loudly from how easily she had managed to embarrass her friend. She _had_ meant it though. Makino was the most caring and sweet-hearted person she had never met. Honestly, what shocked her the most was that she still _didn't_ have a kid, aside from Luffy, of course.

"Thanks, Ava…" Makino said quietly - whispered almost - as if to prevent Ava from hearing.

The brown-haired woman, however, did hear. Loud and clear. She smiled (typical Luffy fashion) and gave Makino a hard pat on the back, causing her to stumble and nearly trip on her face.

"Hey, if I can't even make you embarrassed, then what the hell are we friends for?" Ava snickered. She looked ahead of them yet again. Even though it was night, their path was clear thanks to the moon, and the well easy to spot in the distance.

"There it is. Now, all we hafta' do is get that water, and we'll be back before you know it, Makino."

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

_***Splash***_

Makino dropped the bucket in her hands, letting all the water inside go to waste as it quickly sank into the dirt, turning it into mud. She hadn't meant to let it go after she and Ava had finally returned… it was an accident, though currently, a bit of spilled liquid was the least of her worries.

"What did… you say..?"

Her voice was shaking… filled with fear from the shock she had just received. Even though she knew this reaction seemed a bit extreme, she couldn't hide it. _She was scared._

"Yeah, I'm tellin ya. You gals just missed him. Luffy left just a minute ago… said he still was hungry n' went back to his house to get some meat or somethin'." A drunk man, one who looked to be on the edge of passing out, explained.

"Is something wrong Makino?" Ava's voice was filled with worry. She had been so relaxed and cheery just a minute ago, and yet for some reason, hearing Luffy had left had been more than enough to get Makino to panic.

"Well…"

All eyes turned to look at Makino, awaiting an answer from the woman in anticipation. It had turned completely silent throughout the village plaza, and the villagers felt themselves get more and more uneasy the longer Makino's silence lasted.

She bit her lip (not hard or to hurt herself, though, just because she was having tough thoughts).

She had no reason _no_t to tell the villagers why this was bad and what was going on...

She was concerned about Luffy. Even when Garp had been crazy enough to drag a 7-year-old up into the monster-filled forest, she hadn't felt quite the same. Ace, and later Sabo, and been there to protect him, and Dadan (despite never admitting it) was looking out for all three of them as well.

This was different from back then. Luffy was mostly on his own now, left to fend for himself. And something was there… something or someone that hadn't been there before. It was dangerous, dangerous enough to take out a bear. From the looks of it, it seemed like it had shot to death but, there had been no bullets inside its flesh when they had butchered it… so then, what was it?

"I..it's just strange when you think about it… that bear died somehow, but Luffy wasn't the one to kill it. He merely dragged it here so it wouldn't go to waste." Makino explained hesitantly.

A few villagers let out a sigh of relief. Now they knew what was up, and that Makino was _clearly_ just overreacting a bit.

"I just thought it was those damn mountain bandits. They have guns, right? You shouldn't worry about Luffy running into them, though, he seems to have been able to avoid them up till now, and besides, they're probably asleep now anyway."

"Y-yeah, I guess that's right." Makino tried to avoid letting her voice shake or sound unsure, but didn't succeed.

'_Of course.. they don't know Luffy's been living _with _Dadan-san and the others all this time. All they were ever told was that Luffy was dragged up to live in the mountain… I doubt the majority of the villagers even know about Ace-kun. It's supposed to be a secret, though, so I can't tell them…' _

She turned her gaze towards Woop Slap who was sitting nearby and let their eyes meet. His eyes were brimming with worry, much like her own, and Makino was certain he was thinking the exact same as her.

"Makino. If you're that worried, then why not just go and check up on him? I'll happily tag along, though knowing Luffy, he'll be back before we're gonna get very-"

A sudden sound caused Ava to stop mid-sentence.

_Loud panting. Footsteps. Footsteps from a small group of people from the sound of it, and they were running… approaching them quickly._

The villagers remained completely silent, furrowing their brows. It would make sense to hear such things if it was just one person (that being Luffy), but why a group…?

_Who could possibly be…?_

In the very next instance, five people ran into view from behind a house. The two in front differed a lot in since, one of them resembling a chicken (he had a red cockscomb on top of his head) while being at least 2 feet taller than any ordinary adult, and the other being considerably small like a child, though his little amount of facial hair (it certainly wasn't a beard or mustache) proved otherwise.

The villagers instantly recognized these men as members of the Dadan family - the mountain bandits they had just told Makino not to worry about. They gulped, not only feeling scared of the infamous criminals before them but couldn't help but feel that Makino's worry maybe wasn't for nothing after all…

"Magra-san! Dogra-sa-!"

Makino instantly slapped her hand across her mouth to stop herself from saying another word.

'_That was close…' _

Fortunately for the woman, nobody, not even Ava who stood right beside her, seemed to currently be paying her any attention.

Something seemed… _wrong_, though. _Horribly wrong_. They were all _considerably_ exhausted, looking like they were about to faint or something, and panic was written all over their sweaty faces…

"W-what…?"

"B-but you're members of the Dadan family, aren't you…?"

"What are you doing here!?"

The villagers began freaking out and slowly backing away from the dangerous people.

Dogra, Magra, and the three random men (they had split into sensible groups in case they'd have to fight), however, couldn't care less about how scared the villagers might be of them now. They had been searching relentlessly for the last many hours, at the river, inside any hollow tree, turned every leaf and stone, and looked basically at all the places Luffy used to train. Foosha was their last bet… their last hope for finding and warning Luffy.

He needed to get away… away from Dawn Island where those dangerous people were still looking for him just as hard as they were. Even if it was too soon… Luffy could... make it work somehow. Maybe he could contact Ace (he surely would accept him) or find another island to hide out on. No matter what, that was certainly better than for him to stay on this island. Those guys knew Luffy was here, and they weren't gonna give up before they would find them. They had all shivered in terror as they thought of what could possibly happen if Luffy was caught...

Dogra desperately looked around in the crowd, trying to spot the straw-hat wearer, but only felt himself get more and more restless when he was nowhere to be seen. That's when his gaze fell upon Makino. Her eyes were filled with fear and her hand was closed tightly on her chest… if one looked closely enough, you'd even be able to see her shaking.

She was scared. Not by the presence of the mountain bandits she had befriended, (she never would ever be scared of the Dadan family again) but instead by their utmost unusual and worrisome behavior.

Wasting no time, Dogra jumped at Makino, causing her to flinch from surprise and nearby villagers to tense up, scared he was attacking and hurting her. He didn't, though. He simply grabbed her arms tightly and forced their gazes to meet so he knew he had her full attention.

"Makino, listen! do you know where Luffy is!? There's no time to explain, but… Luffy's… Luffy's in danger! We've been looking everywhere for the past hours, but we couldn't find him! Please! Please if you know something, tell us!"

Small tears appeared in the corners of Dogra's eyes, though he forced them back. Now was _not_ the time to cry or give up.

"W-wait, _danger_? What kind of danger? What are you saying, Dogra-san?"

Makino felt herself nearly freak out. Had she been right to worry all this time? Had… had whoever it was that killed that bear been searching for _Luffy _all along? If that was the case, then who was it? And why? What could they possibly want from him, a _child_!?

"Oi, oi! Hands of the lady… _buddy_…!"

One of the more heroic men put himself between the Dogra and Makino, not liking one bit how the bandit was clinging onto her. He forcibly ripped them apart, throwing Dogra across the ground (the man let out a yelp of pain) and ensured Makino's safety.

"Dogra!"

The fellow bandits hurried to their friend's side. He wasn't injured, just dirty. Dogra was quick to brush it off though (he had been worse), ignoring the rough treatment as he got to his feet.

"W-wait, Victor!" Makino stuttered. She didn't like seeing the bandits get hurt, and currently, she was more freaked out than she had been in a long time and did _not_ need a fight to break out. She wanted answers, but beating up the bandits wouldn't provide any.

"Don't worry Makino, I won't allow them to hurt you," Victor said, giving her a somewhat unsure smile. He wasn't confident in his ability to fight, but he did have his honor. Nobody hurt a lady on his watch!

"P-please, just calm down. We swear we didn't come here for any trouble. We just need to know where Luffy is, and then we'll leave."

Magra raised his hands in surrender to further showcase that he meant no harm.

The villagers, however, seemed to be having none of that. Criminals… _bandits_ were asking them where Luffy, the forever-smiling loving and adorable little child they all cared for, had gone? Was this some kind of sick joke? Did they _honestly_ think they'd sell out one of their youngest _that_ easily?!

Even if the inhabitants of Foosha had never seen battle… even if they were a weak bunch who had never even held a weapon… even so, they all felt anger swell up inside them, anger that demanded they fought back instead of cowering in a corner.

"S-screw you! Why should believe anything you guys say!?"

"I bet you're just making excuses!"

"That's right! Even if Luffy's just a kid, he's already faced all the dangerous of Dawn Island! There's nothing he can't take on by himself!"

"Leave! Scram! Give up on targeting Luffy, o-or _e-else_!"

Slowly, the villagers (thanks to the fighting spirit they never before knew they actually had) began encircling the bandits, blocking their only exit. It was only really meant as a warning, as none of them had never actually killed or seriously injured somebody else, but their anger was real.

"E-everybody…! Why don't you all just calm down, and let's talk about this!"

Makino desperately tried stopping them, but she was helplessly shoved aside. If they heard her, they seemingly didn't care about Makino's resolution. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to stare into Ava's face… the woman was also visibly upset… as close to angry as Makino had ever seen her.

"Makino. Isn't this what you were worried about? Just stand back, I know you don't like violence. Don't worry, nobody here is gonna let something happen to Luffy," She reassured.

Makino, despite how wrong this was, couldn't get herself to correct Ava, to tell her that those bandits were, well… certainly not_ as_ bad as they expected them to be, and that they were telling the truth about Luffy.

'_Just what am I supposed to do!?'_

"We won't sell out Luffy no matter what you guys might say, so why don't you turn tails and run back along t-t you-your…"

…

…

…

_Suddenly, all fighting spirit left the villagers. Instead, they stood frozen on the spot, utterly bewildered by what they were beholding._

The… the bandits. Magra, the lackeys, even Dogra who they so rudely pushed to the ground hurt was… _on their knees...bowing their heads to them_.

_Just what the hell… were they doing? What was that supposed to mean?_

"Y-you guys think whatever the hell you want about us… you're right, after all, we're just a pathetic group of mountain bandits…! But if you really care about Luffy, then, please! Tell us where he is so we can go help him! We beg you..."

Dogra could no longer suppress his tears. _Damn_, it hurt, knowing one of the brats was in danger. They had sat by idly without a clue as to what was happening during that whole deal with Sabo… it had lead to his _death,_ something they could probably have prevented if they had just involved themselves a bit earlier! They had let Sabo die and then let Ace and Luffy take all the blame... They wouldn't lose another one of those kids… how were they gonna explain that to Ace…? How could they possibly live with themselves if they allowed that!?

…

…

…

_Well, this silence was certainly awkward_.

It was clear from their tears, from the desperation that had been oh so clear in Dogra's voice that they weren't lying. They were telling the truth, but what exactly did _that_ mean? Were they _really_ implying that there was something _that_ dangerous on Dawn island? As in _Dawn Island_ that was here in the East Blue...? That they had a reason to not only be worried, but even _scared_ for Luffy's life? What was-

"_**So**_, this is the village of windmills, Foosha village? Seems we've finally found some people who might know something useful…" An unfamiliar, yet (despite its calm tone) terrifying voice interrupted.

All heads turned in the direction of the owner. It was quite shocking, honestly, how such a big group had entered the village and gotten to close without anybody noticing them approaching. They wore total black suits, sunglasses, and hats to completely the shady look, and were almost invisible in the dark night.

Their leader (it was clear who it was, as he was the one in front) had been the one who had spoken. There was something about him… something… _terrifying_ that made chills run down the spines of anybody who took a glance at him, telling them _not_ to piss off this guy or _dare_ try to lie to him.

_As impossible as it seemed, the chilly night just suddenly got a lot colder._

"I am Rob Lucci, member of CP9 and sent here by the world government to find and capture Monkey. D Luffy. Since you all seem to be familiar with him, I ask you tell us his location… or, is it like you said? That you'll truly never sell him out to anybody…?"

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

"What… _**is**_ this…?"

Luffy's knees buckled under his own weight. The shock he had received had caused his body to lock down, to suddenly feel extraordinarily heavy and hard to move, even the slightest…

It wasn't because he was exhausted after running all the way home to his treehouse… that was a trip he had taken _countless_ times during the last 6 months. Even if he ran at full speed, he wouldn't as much as break a _sweat _any longer.

_No_, the only other time Luffy had felt like this had been back _then_… back when he was still an annoying little crybaby who constantly needed to be saved and to be protected by his two big much stronger brothers…

_It was back then… back when he had heard that Sabo had died. That's exactly how he currently felt. Hopeless… weak… pathetic… as if had he just tried a little harder, this mess could have been avoided. _

His eyes were already wide from fear and utter confusion… nothing was making sense…

_H__ow_…? _why!? when had this happened!?_ Was he dreaming or something? Was this just a horrible _horrible_ nightmare, one that he would soon wake up from only to find everything to be fine…?

_No. That couldn't be it_.

If that was the case, then how come he felt himself trembling? How come no matter how hard he bit into his lip, all he felt was pain and the tickling feeling of blood running down his chin?

It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a dream. It. Wasn't. A _**dream**_**. **

This was real… this was, this was _real_!

_The treehouse… his _home. The treehouse he, Ace, and Sabo had spent _weeks_ building was..! Even if it wasn't the prettiest thing to have ever existed, it was _theirs_! _Their_ base, the place where they countless times had played pirates, a safe place to return to in this danger-filled forest where they had eaten, laughed, fought, slept - _heck_ \- even _cried_ together…!

_That very same place was… __**burning**_**.**

There was no saving it at this point, even Luffy could tell…

Most of it had already been burnt away completely...Their ASL jolly roger was now just a tiny piece of fluttering fabric, unrecognizable and incapable of intimidating anybody, as was the intention behind a jolly roger... The steering wheel Ace had been so proud of making had broken, crashed to the ground and splintered, sending fiery sparks flying _everywhere_... Their crows nest at the top looked more like a bowl with fire spouting out of it...

It was all just... _gone_…just like that! Slowly being consumed by flames before his very eyes.

Luffy didn't believe it. _Not. One. Bit. _

How? _How_ had something like this happened..? How could _he _have allowed this to happen!? How could something he held so, something that contained many precious memories just…?

Luffy was on the verge of tears... he felt the familiar prickling sensation his eyes, and almost allowed the tears to swell up and start falling, if not for the clicking-sound of a bunch of guns being loaded behind him had been there to distract him.

"You're… Monkey D. Luffy, aren't you? Surrender yourself without resistance. Even if you are just a child, we won't hesitate to use force if necessary!"

The voice was unfamiliar and cold. Luffy didn't like it. Not one bit.

He slowly turned his head around to take a look at the bastard who had said that. He spotted a bunch of unfamiliar men wearing some ugly suits all pointing their guns at him at an attempt at intimidating.

He said nothing... Luffy felt all his grief, sorrow, and helplessness disappear as anger quickly began stirring up and taking over...

Who the hell were these guys..? How did they know his name…? Though, most importantly:

"_**Were...WERE YOU THE ONES TO DID THIS!?"**_

* * *

**MUAHAHAHAHAHAH! I feel so evil leaving this chapter on this cliffhanger!**

**This is the point where I will say things will start getting... interesting. :) **

**I already have the next few chapters planned out, but... it's gonna take a while to write them since they're probably gonna be a bit longer than these first couple ones. Therefore, expect a few days waiting time before the new chapter will be out. **

**Thanks a lot to mjscev (strange name but whatever :) for being the first to review on my Onefic! Reviews are always highly appreciated, and I'll begin to reply once I get enough...**

**Thanks for reading!**

**_-Cookie_**


	4. Buster call

**OMG! FINALLY DONE WITH THIS! *sobs as I cry from how happy I am* **

**Sorry for keeping you waiting! This chapter was just really difficult for me to write for multiple reasons and it's also the longest one yet! (Though not the longest you'll get to read, that's for sure)**

**I swear that I've been working as fast as I could, but this just took time (you'll see why hopefully)... ah well! It's finally ready, sooooooo...**

_**Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :) **_

**'Enjoy':**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Buster Call**

There really was no polite way of saying it… The agents, armed adults, men who had trained their bodies beyond that of an ordinary human, whose wills were unbreakable at this point… were currently getting their asses kicked by a 14-year old.

Five of them had already been knocked unconscious, all because they had underestimated the kids' combat ability. Luffy was certainly a hell of a lot stronger than any teen they had ever encountered before… probably even stronger than them! _Him. A freaking _child _was stronger than them! _

_Just what the hell was happening!?_

Luffy roared loudly as he leaped off the ground, going in for another attack, his fist raised and clenched tightly. The unfortunate target of Luffy's rage could only stare with fear-filled eyes as the child charged at him… he realized just a second too late that he _needed _to move out of the way. Luffy pounded his fist into the poor man's face, and possibly shattering the bone in his nose.

_That was another one down for the count._

Luffy was angry. Angrier than he had _ever_ before been. These guys had… these _bastards_ had destroyed his home! The treehouse even _Sabo_ had been a big part of constructing!

He felt energy surge throughout his entire body… a burning sensation that would soon start boiling and eventually explode if he didn't get to knock these guys asses out. Even if this feeling was causing his energy level to shoot through the roof, making him stronger and faster, Luffy certainly wasn't used to fighting like this.

_For revenge._

Shanks had taught him long ago that revenge was bad. That ultimately, it just led to more blood getting spilled, more people getting hurt or killed, with nothing to be gained… he had strongly discouraged him from ever sinking to that level… sink so low he went over the top and would do something he would later come to regret.

Of course, there was one exception, though. If someone bad hurt somebody dear to you... _that's_ when you show them they've messed with the _wrong_ person, that's what Shanks had told him.

What he was currently doing kinda went against that. They hadn't actually hurt somebody, but they had still taken away something precious to him! Luffy figured this meant he still had the right to be every bit as _furious_ as he currently was, but even if it didn't, he didn't care.

_Those jerks needed to __**pay**__._

"You little brat! Just stop resisting and-"

The man's growl was cut short when Luffy jumped at him, giving him a knee to the chin. The man nearly bit his tongue of (unfortunately he didn't) but the force sent him to the ground, wrenching in pain, so he was as good as useless now as well.

A couple of the other agents, who were still unhurt, were finally regaining their composure and realized they had to do something (instead of simply standing around like the idiots they were).

One was very quick to raise his gun, taking almost no time to aim before he pulled the trigger. He was, however, careful to only hit Luffy's shoulder. They wanted to _capture_ Luffy, or at least keep him alive until Lucci arrived with orders to do otherwise.

However, the soldiers were in for yet another shock as the bullet made contact with Luffy…Instead of penetrating his flesh and causing bleeding, Luffy's skin stretched. The bullet went _fairly_ way back, and was almost stopped completely…

"That won't…"

_Horrified, the soldiers realized what was about to happen._

"_WORK!"_ Luffy screamed. His wrath was still very much clear in his voice… while that particular line was one Luffy had already shouted many times, unlike usual, the playful and cocky tone was missing. He was just mad. And _only_ mad.

The bullet was flung back in the opposite direction and (even if just by pure luck) managed to hit one of the agents in the stomach. The man in question let out a scream of pain and tightly clenched his stomach. Blood was already seeping through his clothes.

The rest, however, ignored their comrade's shrieks, currently having a much bigger and much more troublesome problem on their hands.

"A-a devil fruit!?"

"No way! Y-you're kidding, right!?"

"B-but this is East Blue for Oda's sake! How does he have a devil fruit!? Why does _he_ have a devil fruit...?"

_Luffy couldn't care less about their confused cries. He had one goal, and one goal only in mind... _

"You guys…. _ARE GONNA PAY!_"

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

The next few minutes were a complete blur to Luffy. His rampage had continued, that much was for certain. Those poor agents never stood a chance against him. Their only weapons were useless, their reaction time too slow, and they were too weak to restrain him with the very small amount of soldiers that had still remained standing. Keyword: had.

It would be clear, even to any outsider... clear that hell had gone down… the agents pathetically laid defeated on the ground, dirty, beaten, and unconscious. Luffy was the only one to still be standing, though the child wasn't in top condition either...

He was panting. His lungs were burning, and his body was aching from exhaustion. Blood was dripping from his knuckles. It was because he had gone a little overboard, punched the agents a bit _too_ hard. He regretted nothing, though. This was his most hard-fought fight to date, but one he had won all on his own.

Luffy, however, didn't feel like celebrating… even if those jerks had gotten what they deserved, his treehouse was still burning behind him. Even if he put out the flames… even if the tree hadn't been damaged that badly… even if he miraculously got all the right material... even then, Luffy would never be able to restore it.

He, Ace, and Sabo had built it _together_. All _three_ of them. No way could it ever be rebuilt in the same manner… _ever_.

Luffy gritted his teeth at the thought. His anger had only decreased that much… now that the agents were defeated, Luffy wanted answers.

He stomped over to the nearest fallen soldier (to hell if was conscious or not) getting a tight hold on his dirty black jacket. He forced him into a sitting position…

"Oi… just who the hell are you people!? What have I ever done to you!? Why…?Why!? How could you burn the treehouse I, Ace, and Sabo worked so hard to make!?"

Luffy was viciously shaking the poor man, though not as much a small squeal could be heard from him. Even if he was clearly knocked out, his silence annoyed Luffy to no end.

It truly was quiet now. Or, at least it was very quiet compared to the big mess that had been the hard-fought battle earlier. It was just Luffy and his panting, as well as the crackling sound of the fire still burning brightly behind him.

Luffy's hands were shaking. Shaking from anger, though it was no longer directed towards the defeated agents... Instead, Luffy felt angry at himself. Guilty that he had simply let these strangers mess everything up that easily... guilty that he hadn't prevented this.

What would Ace say if he was here? Would he be disappointed and get mad at him? What was he thinking, of course, he would. Ace always yelled at him when he was useless and messed up stuff… smacked him across the head and told him how he was incompetent and couldn't do anything…

(Of course, Ace never said those things to in any way hurt Luffy's feelings. In fact, whenever Ace said teased Luffy like that, it would always just lead to an argument between the brothers… Luffy would tell him how wrong he was, how he was strong and could do anything just as well as Ace could, but would ultimately fail to prove otherwise. None of these arguments, however, were serious, and would always be quickly resolved.)

Strangely enough, being yelled at by Ace sounded pretty good right about now… He wished Ace was here… here so it could have been prevented this mess. He was sure Ace could have stopped this… he always somehow seemed to make things right.

Luffy suddenly felt something… a single warm drop of water rolling down his cheek. He hadn't even realized he was starting to cry… that was no good, he had sworn he wouldn't cry… that he would stop being a cryba-

"_I think that's quite enough." _

The sudden voice caused Luffy to jump in surprise. He had been caught up in his own emotions and thoughts (something which usually never happened) and his guard had been lowered. He immediately turned his head in the direction of the voice, though felt his heart _drop_ from what he saw…

A big group of people had managed to sneak up on him without him noticing… there were a _lot_ of them (more than Luffy could currently count, that's for sure) and they all wore the same black suits as those other jerks that Luffy had just fought hard to defeat. The sight of that group alone was intimidating, though that's not what terrified Luffy…

"_**MAKINO!"**_

The woman in question was being held in place by one of those men (Luffy was starting to hate them more and more for each passing second), her arms were forced to her back and a pain-written expression was on her face. She was injured… _hurting_…!

Even if it didn't look too serious, she was bleeding in multiple places, the most noticeable spot being her forehead where Luffy quickly noticed a giant gash. She was ruffled up... her clothes were dirty and torn as if had she slid or rolled across the ground, and her hair was a completely mess...

Aside from her wounds, however, Luffy noticed one other thing when their eyes met, something that only further _infuriated_ him…

Tears were streaming from Makino's brown eyes… she… _she was crying!_

"LET HER GO!"

Luffy felt his fury return tenfold… _Makino! Those bastards were hurting her!_

He was about to jump at them, to charge at those bastards, rip them to shreds and pieces for the crap they had pulled! Unfortunately, he was stopped before he could do so, as a knife was pointed at the shaking woman's neck…

The message was clear: "_Move, and we'll kill her."_

"RUN AWAY LUFFY! YOU CAN'T FIGHT THESE GUYS!" Makino screamed, her voice filled with distress.

She was, however, immediately silenced as the man restraining her arms greatly tightened his grip, causing Maknot to let out a small anguished cry.

"NO! Let her go! Don't drag Makino into this! Is it me you guys are after!? If that's the case, then don't involve her, she's got nothing to do with anything!"

Luffy caught Lucci's gaze… his eyes were _fuming_ with anger and hatred toward the man… he _detested _these strangers, despised them with every fiber of his being. His eyes alone very clearly conveyed that message… and yet, despite how frightening Luffy's death stare truly _was_, Lucci's icy-cold glare didn't falter in the slightest from eye contact.

He soon, however, broke his glance away from Luffy, instead turning to look at Makino. He felt absolutely no sympathy for the suffering and sobbing woman.

"No… you're wrong, Monkey D. Luffy. This woman is guilty of a great crime… that being assisting _you_, of course," Lucci stated.

…_.W...what? _

_That_ made Luffy freeze on the spot. His anger dissolved, even if just for a moment, being replaced with utter perplexity.

_Just… just because Makino had always been there… helped him, cared for him… fed him… helped him bathe… given him new clothes... cheered him up when he felt bad… treated his wounds…_

_That…_ **that **_was the reason she was being punished like this!?_

_Just what kind of BS was that!?_

"Screw you! I've never done _anything_ to you guys! I don't even know you!"

"I would certainly hope so. After all, we'd be a pretty pathetic secret organization if people actually knew of our existence... But it doesn't matter what you have and haven't done to us. All that really matters, or I guess, will matter, is what you'll become in the future if nothing is done now… _**son of Dragon**__._"

Luffy found himself greatly puzzled by that ridiculous explanation.

Son of… _Dragon_? What was that supposed to mean? His dad was a dragon? Was that even possible? Did that mean _he_ was a dragon too? Wait - did he even have a dad in the first place? And… why exactly was that supposed to matter right now?

"I have no clue what you're talking about! Why does it matter whose son I am? My dad's got absolutely nothing to do with me!"

Lucci's response to this was a sigh. He could already tell that talking to this kid would do no difference… He had met people kind of like him before, whose determination to protect the ones they care about is so great even their own lives matter less, people who challenge the world itself to follow their beliefs or accomplish their dreams…

Those were always the most trouble… chaotic, unpredictable… and to make matters even worse, they were typically also the strongest and hardest to take out. It was always people like _that_ who ended up ruling the current era.

"I guess it's impossible to reason with you… no matter, though, you'll come along...willing or _not_." Lucci declared, cracking his fingers to ready himself for combat.

The supporting soldiers also pointed their guns at Luffy (little do they know), as a means to cut off his escape, or, at least ensure that he wouldn't run.

Luffy, however, was having none of that. He might still not be as strong as he'd like.. he might still have some years left before he could fight as well as Ace but... he didn't have time to think over small details like that now!

Like _hell_, he was just gonna turn himself over after everything they had already done!

"Bring it! I'm not scared of you!"

And with those courageous words, Luffy leaped to attack, having only 2 goals on his mind:

1\. Free Makino before those bastards could injure her further.

2\. Kick their asses all the way to the other end of the Grand Line!

_Rubber wasn't a material suited for combat… Ace had said that, but right now, Luffy was determined to prove him wrong! _

"Gumo gumo no…!"

Luffy stretched back his arm as _far_ as he currently could, just to make sure as much force as possible was put into his punch. Fortunately for him, (just like earlier) the agents found themselves stunned by this, which made them perfectly vulnerable targets for Luffy to hit.

'_Alright! Even if it's not perfect yet, here's the move I've been practicing for the last 7 years!' _

"NO LUFFY! STAY BACK!" Makino begged. She already knew what would happen if Luffy stayed here… she… she had already seen the kind of _monster_ he was up against, and she knew that as strong as Luffy truly _had_ grown, this was a fight he couldn't win…

Luffy, however, chose to ignore Makino's cries… that was a mistake he immediately came to regret.

"**PISTOL!" **He roared, thrusting forward his arm. For once Luffy's aim was perfect… he was at a point where, around 50% of the time, he would hit his target spot on. The problem this time was that the target he had chosen was _Lucci_.

It made sense to Luffy… the meanest looking guy must have been the leader, so taking him out would be toughest and was the first thing he needed to do.

The man stood completely unfazed by Luffy's attack, easily catching Luffy's tiny fist with his own hand, despite the massive effort put behind Luffy's punch. He made sure to hold tightly onto Luffy's much smaller hand, leaving the rubber kid with no chance to escape his next attack:

"**Rankyaku!" **

Lucci kicked a wave of compressed air towards Luffy, who had no choice but to take it head-on. The reaction was instant… it made contact with Luffy's torso, slashing his flesh and giving Luffy a giant wound that without a doubt would leave a scar.

"LUFFY!" Makino screamed, the tears in her eyes only getting bigger and fatter from her fear for Luffy's life. Even if Luffy had been seriously hurt in the past, she was rarely ever the one to patch up his injuries, plus, she was never actually there the exact moment it happened.

_Seeing him like this… was something entirely different._

Luffy let out a loud cry of of pain. He snapped back his hand (Lucci saw no point in holding on any longer) and pressed against the bleeding gash as if it would do any difference... Blood was already gushing out, and a dark stain was quickly spreading across his red vest.

_His breath became uneven and his knees weak… he fell to the ground, wincing in pain, defeated. Just like that. All his training and hard work had made absolutely no difference._

"Bas...tard…" Luffy snarled weakly from the ground. He kept glaring wrathfully at Lucci, like some kind of wild animal. He wanted no more than to get back up and punch that smug mug of his… to prove that is wasn't this easy to overwhelm him… that he could still keep fighting!

_But he couldn't... his body... didn't want to respond!_

"No! Let go! _Luffy!_" Makino struggled (though in vain) harder against the much stronger man restraining her arms. She was weak… no more than an ordinary fragile young woman. That was probably the reason Lucci sent her captor a nod, allowing her to be set free.

She was carelessly tossed across the ground, only further messing up her hair and greatly intensifying the aching feeling from all her bleeding wounds and scratches.

"Ma...Makino!"

Luffy attempted to crawl his way over to the fallen woman, but he didn't get far as Makino (though somewhat wobbly) got up first, not even bothering to brush up the dirt to hurry to Luffy's side.

She took a moment just to take a good look at the boy she had known and still loved with all her heart, despite what Lucci and the others might try to convince her…

His expression told her everything she needed to know about what was going through his head… his usual childish and careless eyes brimming with happiness were gone, instead replaced with a much fear-struck glint, which seemed like they should belong to a frightened brat… not in _Luffy's_ eyes.

But that really what Luffy currently was… _scared_, scared for what was gonna happen. She wasn't much better herself… she probably would be trembling right now if not for the anger swelling inside.

"Makino, are you ok? You're hurt."

Hearing that specific question from Luffy - the kid with blood gushing out from giant wound on his stomach - Makino couldn't stop a smile from creeping onto her lips.

_Luffy still cared so much more about others rather than himself..._

"I'll be fine," Makino reassured.

The woman took a good look at the alarmingly big cut on his torso, feeling her own stomach turn from disgust now that she got to see it up close like this.

'_You're the one who's truly hurt, Luffy. These guys have already stepped way past the line!'_

Makino bit her lip… she felt an outburst of anger was coming. It quite rare for her to get worked up or even raise her voice… but right now… was _definitely_ one of the rare occurrences where she couldn't (and wouldn't even attempt to) keep back her emotions.

Ignoring the pain it caused her, Makino stood up from her spot in the ash and dirt. (yes, she had spotted the burning treehouse way earlier, but had chosen not to comment about it as Luffy's life was more important. Even so, she knew the boy was also currently feeling a great burden for letting it get destroyed like this…).

She turned to glare directly at them. At the… at the… the _bastards_ who just suddenly had shown up out of nowhere! They had been completely minding their own business, and then they had decided to go through all this trouble just to find and _hurt_ Luffy.

Needles to say, the woman was fuming…

"You…! Just who do you think you are!? Aren't you guys supposed to work for the government!? Then why!? How can you be so… _so cruel_!? Can't you see Luffy's completely innocent!? He's just a child for Oda's sake! An innocent child who's always smiling brightly, always laughing, always just wants to have fun! Even… with Dogra-san and Magra-san earlier…. even if they _were_ mountain bandits, they truly weren't bad people! You overdid it! They didn't deserve-!"

Makino's speech was cut short, as a sudden fist to the stomach cut off her air supply and send her flying and tumbling across the ground with a pain-filled squeal. In fact, she only stopped rolling when a foot pressed itself against her head, threatening to press harder and cause her further pain if she dared to move.

_Of course, the attacker was none other than Lucci. _

"MAKINO! Oi, you! _Get off her!_" Luffy's outcry hadn't sounded as threatening as he intentioned, but he was still very clearly pissed at the constant mistreatment of his friend.

With some sudden newfound strength pumping through Luffy's veins, he managed to push past his own pain so he could stand - even managing to take a strong leap at Lucci - before he, unfortunately, was stopped. Those annoying fodder soldiers jumped at Luffy, managing to bring him to the ground and successfully pin him down with relative ease in his weakened state.

"Target restrained, sir!"

"No! Get off me you jerks!" Luffy struggled with all his might… wiggling, screaming, even gave biting them an attempt. It was no use, though… even if he managed to get some of them to let go, more would immediately jump in and take their place.

Luffy only stopped when he had run out of breath and energy to fight back. Surprisingly, that didn't take very long… Luffy's stamina had evolved massively after the many years of constant running day after day, how come it was failing him now?

Also, his vision was getting blurry and his head was spinning. Luffy didn't know anything about medicine or the stuff that doctors did, but he assumed it was because of his wound, even if the agents pinning him down were avoiding touching his back to press on it.

He could, however, still make out Makino and Lucci's figures, and that Makino wasn't even trying to resist any longer…

_Damn it! Could he really not do anything!?_

"Woman. I'd strongly advise you against arguing with the government's rules." Lucci warned, pressing down his foot harder onto Makino's head.

Her only response to this was a small weak cry. She was obviously already exhausted, too weak to put up much of a fight any longer.

Lucci glared at her, debating his choices for what to do with her. He, however, got to say or do absolutely nothing, as, in the next second, something big and shiny was flung his way, forcing him to spring back, _away_ from Makino.

"_DADAN!"_

"_Dadan-san!"_

Luffy and Makino's voices were weak, though so filled with utter relief it sounded like they would break down crying. The orange-haired woman had stepped in between Makino and Lucci, her trusted weapon, an axe, in hand.

"Curly Dadan. You've come to interfere as well?"

It was barely a question. Even if her arrival had surprised Lucci a little, it hadn't been completely unexpected…

"Damn straight I am! I'm that damn brat's foster mother and an acquaintance of this woman you've hurt! I won't ever forgive you after all the crap you've pulled, World Government!"

"Rob Lucci-sama! Bandits are pouring out of the forest and attacking!" A panicking soldier declared.

And true to the man's proclamation, members of the Dadan family were charging at the soldiers, weapons raised and determination exploding after they had gotten a good look at the current situation.

"Fight back. They're mere bandits, which means you have permission to kill." Lucci ordered, for a moment looking like he had the urge to slap his own forehead from how big dimwits these supposed 'top' agents sometimes proved to be.

"No… stay back you guys…" Luffy whimpered. He had fought these guys earlier… even the weakest of them were unusually tough - certainly stronger than any thug you'd find in Gray Terminal or Low Town. The bandits couldn't possibly defeat them, which meant they would lose…. that... they would _die_ fighting for him if Lucci's' order remained unchanged!

The agents immediately raised their guns, (this time) not hesitating for even a second before firing at the offending group.

Luffy could (for the better or worse) not see much from where he was laying. The sound was all he had to go off of. Gunfire… screaming… the sound of metal clanking against metal... the sound of flesh getting cut… even more gunfire… some pretty harsh swearing…

Luffy might not be very smart…. maybe even as far from intelligent as one could get, but.. even _he_ could figure out what was happening…. and he also knew which group was losing the battle.

"Get off of Luffy you bastards!" Luffy heard a voice yell. He couldn't recognize it, but he assumed it must have belonged to one of the bandits.

"Oh no you don't!" Another one shouted.

Luffy heard another gunshot, only this time, it sounded much closer from how loud it was…

_No more voices after that…_

_**No…**_

Luffy bit his lip hard, feeling the tickling sensation of blood running down his chin.

_**No!**_

"STOP IT! STOP YOU GUYS, YOU AREN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO WIN THIS!"

Luffy struggled harder… pushed harder to break free. He always hated being restrained or tied up or held down against his will, but now, more than ever he (his own fatigue, blood-loss or exhaustion aside) simply wanted to _not_ be useless by letting some weaklings keep him pushed against the ground!

"Wh-whoa! Keep him down!"

"How can he still have this much strength left!?"

The agents tried desperately to retain their grip on Luffy, but were soon pushed back by the kid's tenacity, eventually thrown off of him completely by one last very powerful push on Luffy's part and literally sent flying in different directions. Those guys weren't heard from again.

_Unfortunately, Luffy's breakthrough had happened a tad bit late…_

The (currently panting and shaking) 14-year old didn't even get to take a glance at the battle before, suddenly, a big blur of white and orange flew right past him, crashing into the ground with a loud moan. He instantly recognized the bloody and battered figure.

"Dadan!" Luffy cried, about to rush to her side, though was stopped as she raised a hand, signaling that he should stay away.

The woman was panting. Even if she was a criminal, a bandit with a bounty on her head, she wasn't the type who liked getting into fights all the time. Her stamina was quite poor, her reflexes slow, weapon pretty useless against stronger opponents, and Luffy and Ace had since long ago surpassed her in terms of strength…

'_It's no good… just like I feared, that guys one of the navy's biggest monsters... DAMN!'_

Lucci slowly approached the two. While Dadan had countless bleeding gashes, broken bones, bruises, cuts and wounds all over, Lucci didn't appear to have a single scratch. The most noticeable thing was the blood on his fingers and clothes, but Luffy knew for sure that blood wasn't his own…

He was calm. Or, at least he very much appeared to be. He also seemed to have his sights set solely on Dadan.

"Why...? Why would you go so far for that boy?"

Lucci's question was laughable. Stupid from how obvious the answer should be. Dadan smirked, and (despite her aching body) even let out a small cocky chuckle at Lucci's ignorance.

"You know nothing about Luffy! All you government people care about is control and power… the fact that you're going to this extreme just to catch some 14-year old brat 'cause of his old man proves it! You'd never understand why a mother does crazy things to ensure their kids' safety!"

Lucci's expression tensed from annoyance. While it didn't really matter that Dadan was insulting him, her statement was troubling… it proved how far even ordinary civilians and other criminals were willing to go for him, for _Luffy_…

"This is exactly the issue we have at hand… "

Lucci switched his attention to Luffy. He received a wrath-filled glare and a small growl in return, but surprisingly, the boy remained quiet.

"Monkey D. Luffy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've concluded, I'd say it's pretty evident that you plan on setting out to sea as a pirate once you're older, correct?"

Luffy's flinch of anger was the answer he needed to that question.

"The people here fully support your decision… you've already shown yourself able to get anybody to care enough about you to even be willing to die for your sake…"

_A quick memory of the picture they had found of Shanks and him in the treehouse earlier flashed before his eyes._

"There's no telling who you might have connections to… anybody who supports you and accepts your existence is just as guilty as any criminal out there. Unfortunately, investigating such things is a problem… any capable liar could easily evade execution, so instead, I've chosen something more..._thorough_….something 100% guaranteed to hit every single person that might know and care for you…"

_Dadan's eyes grew wide._

She had heard from Garp… some of the heinous stuff the government did right under the nose of the civilians - the incomprehensible, wretched things the world was better of not even knowing even _could_ happen in the first place.

"D-don't… don't tell me you…!" She whimpered pathetically.

Luffy ignored her, being a stupidly oblivious kid, he was only being maddened by the parts of Lucci's explanation he understood. Just what in the world was he implying!? That anybody, just because they _knew_ him would be punished!?

"Screw that! I won't let you get away with hurting the people I care about!"

Luffy launched himself towards Lucci, too blinded by his rage to even think things over.

"Luffy don't!" Dadan's voice was commanding… like she was telling Luffy "_**no**_" after he had misbehaved, but she was clearly just scared out her mind because Luffy was being delusional.

The 'fight' ended much as it did before. Lucci was more than ready for Luffy, (his attack was already weakened and much slobbier after blood loss) and easily outsped Luffy, grabbing his arms and forcing them to his back while also tightly locking his other arm around his neck, keeping his head in place. (After seeing Luffy would gladly bite if it allowed him a chance to escape, Lucci figured it was a safe move)

Luffy tried struggling, but Lucci wouldn't budge. Not an inch.

"I don't have time to mess around any longer. About an hour ago, I issued an order for a _buster call_. Under normal circumstances, it would take even the fastest of navy ships weeks to reach this island all the way out here in the East blue. But of course, when we were sent here to investigate, we didn't come unprepared. Battleships have been docked at nearby navy bases, just in case something like this would be deemed necessary…"

"Let me go! I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't care either!" Came another growl from the wiggling Luffy.

Lucci snickered at that.

_Oh, he wouldn't be that sure... He _knew _Luffy would care… his obliviousness was the only thing probably stopping him from reacting in the same manner as Dadan. Lucci wondered how_ she _could possibly know when Luffy didn't but decided it was not worth getting worked up over… Curly Dadan would soon be no more anyway._

"Of course, I've already sent a good portion of my men to evacuate the royal family and nobility (and _only_ the royalty and nobility)… our numbers have been reduced greatly, and yet, your bandits don't and never _did_ stand a chance."

The insult was directed at Dadan, whom Lucci sent a mocking smile. Thanks to Lucci's blabbering, Luffy and Dadan had nearly forgotten about the other struggling family members fighting bravely to defend Luffy.

_Actually, now that Lucci mentioned it, the fight had gone completely silent…_

Not being able to stop themselves, Dadan and Luffy turned their heads, but were horrified (even if they certainly could have expected this would be the sight they'd be met by) when they saw them…

_The corpses… and almost all of them were solely bandits._

Their loss was complete… only a few agents had died, and none of the injuries any of the ones still breathing had received looked severe… it other words, the Dadan family was gone. Wiped out just like that. All the members having died in almost complete vain…

Luffy's body began twitching… trembling… almost went numb from the atrocious sight…

_So… so much blood… and… a-and it all belonged t...to the bandits… the o-ones that had t...taken care of him and Ace..._

Even if he had seen death before… even if normally, blood was not a rare or particular scary sight, this was just _**too**_ much.

_And what was more, the other agents were even getting back up! Saluting and everything! __His heart pounded. His breath quickly became faster. The trembling got stronger. His mind went blank._

"Luffy! Luffy look at me!" Dadan's outcry was all that prevented Luffy from breaking into tears and begin screaming right then and there.

"It's gonna be fine, ok?! The world isn't ending or something, i-it's just couple dead guys, nothing you haven't seen or endured before! W… we all came here to save your sorry ass… th..this is our fault, not yours got that!?"

_Tears were streaming down Dadan's face, though, strongly contradicting her own words. She was crying… Luffy had never seen Dadan cry before... _

Luffy found himself unable to say anything. He just took it all in. The bodies… Dadan's just as pathetic state on the ground… her words that totally didn't match her broken expression…

Dadan was defenseless. Already beaten, as good as defeated… and yet still… _guns_ were suddenly pointed at her… as if she wasn't already pitiful _enough_!

"_**NO!" **_

Luffy's scream was desperate. _He_ was desperate… desperate to not let anybody else die for his damn sake!

Fortunately, (or not), another person stepped in the way of their fire, protecting Dadan. Makino. Makino who (to her defense had had her body go numb for the last couple of minutes) finally showed herself again by endangering herself like this.

"What are you doing!? Get out of the damn way, Makino!"

Dadan was about to jump up and push Makino out of the way to prevent her from getting herself killed, but the look she immediately sent her way prevented from doing so. She _smiled_. Even if it was somewhat weak and forced, she was trying her best to look reassuring...

"You protected me earlier, Dadan-san, please allow me to do the same!"

Although her words were confident and unwavering, Dadan could clearly see the woman trembling with fear… she bit her lip yet again, hesitating for only a few seconds before speaking up:

"_Please!_ You gotta stop this madness! Nobody needed to die! Nobody else _needs_ to die from this point on! I… I can't understand why you're even going this far… this is insane, _inhumane!_ They're all dead! And for what!? You can't put the blame of this on a child like Luffy! Please, I beg of you, please stop-"

_***BAM***_

…

…

…

_Too fast. It had happened too fast._

_Makino's expression was unreadable… she seemed… frightened… confused… in utter disbelief… not even aware of what had just happened._

Her body fell… to the ground… with a thud that could be heard loud and clear because of the absolute silence that hung in the air…

Makino was… Makino was… Makino _was_ _shot_. _Makino was shot. _Through... _through_ _the_ head.

She laid unmoving…_._

_**Dead….**_

The perpetrator had been a random soldier simply deciding he had had enough of Makino's delusional blabbering. Just like that. He had killed her _Just. Like .That_.

Dadan couldn't believe it. Luffy _didn't_ believe it. The sound of the shot going off still rang loudly in his head, and his mind was still just trying to process the reality of the situation….

_The tears instantly found their way into his eyes, and this time, Luffy didn't even attempt to hold them back._

"**MAAAKINOOOOOOOOO!" **

_Makino! Makino! Makino! Makino! MAKINO! The woman who had always just been there… always cared for him more than anybody aside from Ace or Sabo. How? HOW!? Why? No way. No _**way_._**_ NO WAY COULD SHE ACTUALLY BE DEAD!_

Luffy fought hard. Fought to break free from the grip holding him back from launching to her side, to check on her and see that his mind was just playing tricks on him - that Makino wasn't actually…

The teen's effort was great… Lucci needed to put in a great amount of effort and strength into keeping him from escaping, (so much so that any non-rubber human would have already suffocated from his grip around his neck).

Ultimately, Luffy's effort proved in vain. That didn't mean he stopped trying though. _Screaming and fighting, screaming and fighting, screaming and fighting… those two things seemed to be the only two things his blurry mind could still focus on. _

Dadan's reaction wasn't much better… at first, she was doubting her eyes, much like Luffy feeling her body temporarily break down just from pure shock.

_Then the anger came._

_A rage even greater than when she had seen the dead bodies of the thieves she had lived with and called her family her entire life. Sure, the agents had killed them, but at least they somewhat had had it coming! They were criminals, outlaws...__Makino was... Makino was just Makino! A mere innocent loving and caring woman who should have absolutely _nothing _to do with this, absolute _**no** _reason to be assaulted or attacked in the first place!_

"YOU BASTARDS! HOW _DARE_ YOU! HOW (insert swear word) _**DARE**_ YOU!"

Dadan shot up, ready to unleash her full _fury _onto the bastards that had done that to her friend! Her ax might have broken earlier (Lucci had used some strange move to make his body hard as steel, which in return had completely shattered it when she had hit him full force) but that didn't mean she didn't have some pain left to deliver!

The bandit, however, got a couple of steps ahead of herself, and in her rage, seemed to have forgotten that the agents were very much still armed and pointing their guns at her. Another shot was fired.

_This one hit as well_.

Even if it was just in the shoulder this time, it was enough to force her to her knees, grasping her shoulder in pain. She was helpless now, could only glare back with utter spite in her eyes at the men responsible for her and Luffy's suffering…

"**DADAN!" **

_Even if she was (well to some degree) alright - still alive if nothing - Luffy called out her name loudly, only crying and screaming harder and harder for each passing second._

_How… why…? Why was everybody he cared about getting hurt and killed like this!? Was he really so weak and incompetent that he couldn't prevent anything!? Was he really still this far away from being strong enough to protect everybody...!?_

Lucci completely ignored Luffy's outburst (even if they were starting to greatly annoy him). Time was running short, and they needed to get out of there. At least Luffy's piercing shrieks proved the giant bleeding gash of his stomach hadn't affected him as much as he had originally thought.

"**Let's go." **

And with those words, Luffy was dragged away… leaving behind Dadan, who couldn't do anything but stare with a look of utter defeat plastered all over her pain-written face, leaving Makino, leaving the other bandits, and the treehouse….there was barely anything left of it to indicate it had once been a house… Luffy's _home_ much less…

Luffy was _forced_ to leave it all behind, his screaming, crying, swearing, and attempts at breaking free doing absolutely nothing to change it.

_**That was the last time ever he got to see either of them**_…

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

Don't _ever_ say that things can't get worse.

Even if you've nearly died. Even if you've just watched basically _everything _and _everyone_ you love be killed and left to die. Even if you think you've lost everything, don't ever say or think there isn't _anything_ that could make the situation any worse.

Not once since they had left had Luffy stopped fighting. He had been crying out for Dadan, for the bandits, and for Makino. He hadn't stopped squirming in Lucci's grip, even if the strength he had left at this point was very limited thanks to his giant wound.

The agents had merely ignored his shrieking, though had considered knocking him out to prevent him from moving and losing any more blood. Fortunately, they hadn't needed to resort to that…

Luffy was no longer struggling. No longer yelling. No longer even moving. It was as if something had suddenly sucked all life and spirit out of him…

_It was, however, no mystery as to why that was. Why Luffy was as devastated as he was._

Honestly, it would be a miracle if the kid lived on after this day without developing some kind of _serious_ fear of fire. He had already watched his home (even if it was just a shabby treehouse) get devoured by flames, and now… Foosha village too was burning.

Luffy's mind was clearly on the verge of breaking down. This horrible night had just been one agonizing event after the other… the sheer amount of brokenness on Luffy's face was nearly enough for even Lucci himself to pity the poor boy.

Especially since Foosha wasn't _just _burning. If one took a closer look, they'd be able to spot a bunch of bodies flooding the paths. Men, women… even the smallest babies and children… the exact cheery villagers Luffy's had been having the time of his life partying alongside just earlier that night….

Most of them were very clearly dead. The bloodpool underneath them and dead-pale skin proved that. A couple of them weren't, however, and were lying tortured, bleeding, and crying on the ground. A couple had managed to get up and were even going as far as to try and help out other villagers hanging onto dear life.

Luffy knew, though - knew the villagers were screwed without help.

_Help they would_ not _receive._

Their houses, along with any medical supply the village might have had, were _burning_. There was no hope… no hope for the last thing Luffy still had left to care about. He had forgotten even, thanks to what had gone down at his treehouse, he had completely forgotten about Foosha…

_Now. It was gone. _They_ were gone. Just like his treehouse. Just like Makino and the bandits. Just like Dadan would soon be unless a miracle occurred._

His body was twitching. His mind was in too much of a shock to even call out to the dying villagers, to tell them this was all his fault, tell them sorry that he let this happen to them, sorry that he couldn't protect Makino, sorry that they had to suffer, sorry that he was so weak and useless…

_He couldn't utter a single word. Couldn't cry, couldn't move... not even to look away from the abominable sight._

Lucci took notice of Luffy's sudden change. The kid was a fool. A delusional fool who lived in a world of his own where everybody he cared about magically was protected from ever being harmed. This was truly shattering his reality… and perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing for them.

"Face it, Monkey D. Luffy, this is all your fault. Had you just simply never existed none of this would have been necessary, and they would still be alive. Your relationship with those villagers, however, was no good… they liked you, _accepted_ somebody like _you_, even after I explained the truth. You brought this upon them, but they sealed their own fates by refusing to tell us your location… it was just a distress call from the agents fighting you the revealed your location."

Luffy's eyes began swelling up with tears from Lucci's words… he said nothing to oppose them, however… almost like… he was starting to accept it instead. It was true. This truly _was_ all his fault. Cp9 had come looking for him. And (even if unintentional) everybody else had to suffer for that.

_This exact reaction proved they were close… close to completely shattering the boys iron-tight will..._

Lucci had already loosened his grip around Luffy and wasn't even bothering restraining his arms any longer. The only reason they weren't making Luffy walk on his own at this point, really, was thanks to the rubber kids' much weakened and wobbly legs that could give in any minute now.

Luffy didn't even care that he was being dragged along... didn't care what would happen to him if he allowed himself to be captured, didn't care if he was killed or tortured or… or whatever!

All that was even keeping him conscious at this point was the villagers, watching them cling onto life, watching them cry from pain (not just physical, mind you, but from watching their loved ones get slaughtered...), watching them suffer…

_He… he didn't want to leave them behind… not now… not like this..._

Though it was pathetic, Luffy reached out his hand… it was twitching… shaking… not even close to reaching them, but…

"E-e...everybody… I'm… I'm so-!"

_***BAM!***_

_The thing to interrupt Luffy was an explosion. An explosion that had come out of nowhere. An explosion that caused death and destruction to anything in its path. _

_An explosion that… that had suddenly struck the already crumbling Foosha village. _

_There was no doubt really… something of that caliber could easily kill any normal healthy human. The inhabitants of Foosha, however, hadn't been healthy, hadn't been prepared - hadn't even warned about it!_

_In their states… there was __**no**_ _way they could have survived that. _

"Tch! Damn navy! What are they thinking, firing already when we haven't even delivered the target yet! We _were_ supposed to take him alive after all!"

"It's because we're already way past schedule… come on, hurry!"

The agents broke into a sprint, heading straight for the ports where their ship was waiting and ready to take off at a second's notice.

Luffy heard nothing, however… he barely even felt himself get lifted off the ground and tossed across Lucci's shoulder. His own heartbeat and breathing seemed to overpower their stressed-out voices…

_He stared. He stared, refusing to believe anything his eyes were seeing or his ears were hearing. _

_**Why?**_

_The question was simple, really. And yet, Luffy's twisting and turning mind couldn't seem to find an answer. _

_Foosha…. i-it had a...already been...b…b-burning, r-right? T..the inhabitants h-had… a...already b-ben suffering… r...r-right? T-they h-had _already… _p...paid the...the p-prize… _**hadn't they!?**

_THEN WHAT WAS THE MEANING OF THIS!?_

_Another boom, however, soon interrupted Luffy's panic attack. This time, it had hit the forest. The forest where he had planned to train to become strong enough to become the pirate king. The beasts living there would be the ones to suffer from that._

_Another one followed shortly after. _

_And another._

_And another. _

_And another one after that. _

_Slowly, everything around him was destroyed. Everything that wasn't became enveloped in merciless flames tearing away at everything…_

_The 100-year old trees he had climbed and failed to climb countless of times... _

_The grassy fields he Ace and Sabo had laughed while running through on the most beautiful of summer days… _

_The otherwise alluring and clear night sky filled with thousands of small blinking stars the three brothers many times had gazed upon, was now being covered up by the dark suffocating smoke from the fires…_

_**And that was it. Luffy's mind couldn't take any more.**_

"No…"

_The tears came quickly, big, fat and unstoppable._

"Stop it…"

_His whimpers, however, went unnoticed by anybody… the sounds of the explosions were too loud, so loud even Luffy himself couldn't hear his own words._

"_**STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"**_

Luffy's sudden scream seemed to scare the _heck_ out of the unprepared agents… it, however, wasn't his words, but something entirely different that shook them to their core… It was… as if some strange invisible _shock_ of energy suddenly burst from Luffy…

It changed nothing about the environment… it did nothing to stop the destruction, the explosions or the fire. But something did stop. That thing was people… and those people were the agents. All of them, aside from Lucci.

Not _only_ did they stop. They fell. To the ground, unconscious.

Lucci stumbled - nearly _tripped_ \- and (despite really not having the time) stopped abruptly.

This time, he was the one to stare with wide shook eyes… he felt a shiver run down his spine and was even sweating slightly from nervousness - not just the heat.

Luffy had fallen limp on his shoulder. The kid was unconscious now, and Lucci doubted he would wake up any time soon.

'_Conqueror's haki…'_

Lucci honestly shouldn't be surprised. Luffy was, after all, not _only_ the son of the revolutionary Dragon but also _grandson_ to Monkey D. Garp _and_ a brother to Portgas D. Ace…

_Of course,_ he would have conqueror's haki, but to utilize it when he was still this young…?

Lucci had met only a very small amount of kids with haki, but not a single one of them had even known what the hell haki was in the first place.

Another nearby explosion was what snapped Lucci out of his thoughts and back to the grim reality of his unfortunate subordinates…

'_Tch, he's knocked them all out… there's no saving them…'_

Lucci had no time to carry them or attempt to wake them up. This was a buster call. Even if their own top agents were knocked out and unable to move, the navy wouldn't stop… they'd keep firing, keep burning, keep destroying until everything was blown into oblivion.

_Man, what a pathetic way to die…_

Lucci ran straight through the bodies of the unconscious men. They were replaceable anyway… he certainly wouldn't mourn their deaths.

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

"OVER THERE, I SEE HIM!" An agent positioned in the crow's nest exclaimed in relief.

Lucci emerged from the flames. His clothes were a little dirty and a few bruises could be spotted here and there, but ultimately, the man appeared to be in great condition.

The government vessel still held docked at the shore of Dawn Island. This specific area had been deemed a 'safe zone' until Lucci returned with Luffy. The agents had anxiously been awaiting their commander's return amidst the destructing, praying that no cannonball would accidentally be aimed at them.

"Thank goodness! Rob Lucci-sama you have to hurry! We're all ready to sail!"

Lucci gave the man no reply. Of course, that was pretty damn obvious.

It was then that the agents noticed the small body hanging over Lucci's shoulders.

"S-sir…. is… is that really…?"

"Yeah. There's absolutely no doubt. This is him, the son of the revolutionary Dragon." Lucci confirmed.

He dumped him carelessly onto the floor, completely disregarding the fact he was pretty heavily injured and unconscious. He'd survived this long. He wouldn't die now.

"Get him treated. Even if I made sure to miss his vitals, he's already lost a good amount of blood."

"Yessir."

Some agents carrying a stretcher immediately got to moving him to the infirmary. Their doctors were skilled, but one woman, in particular, wouldn't be happy to see the state of the child...

Of course, the ginormous wound across his torso was what they first noticed, but that certainly wasn't the only injury he had received…

Disregarding the small scratches (those would heal quickly), another notable thing was his fists. For some odd reason, his knuckles were blue and swollen and his hands were covered in dried blood.

How that had happened was as good as anyone's guess.

"Oh, by the way, make sure you use seastone handcuffs after you're done treating him," Lucci mentioned before he would forget.

_Leaving devil fruit users with regular cuffs on never led to anything good..._That _was a mistake he certainly didn't want to have to deal with. _

"_EH!? _W-wait a second…! You mean he's eaten a devil fruit!?"

"Yes. Now, stop fooling around and prepare for departure this instant. The navy's incredibly impatient, after all." Lucci reminded, greatly annoyed and restlessness. They were still docked at an island getting blown to smithereens, and he would like it to not be that way.

The agents suddenly seemed to remember their dire situation, and clumsily raced to get back to their correct positions and get the hell away from there.

"Call the chief of Cp9. Tell him that the mission was a success and that we'll be on our way with Monkey D. Luffy as a prisoner."

"Yessir!"

Another diligent agent ran off to do just that.

"Wait… aren't we still missing a couple of our men? What happened to the rest of the group that assisted you, Rob Lucci-sama?"

This particular comment seemed to interest the ship's entire crew. They didn't stop with their tasks (didn't really feel like dying now) but they couldn't help but turn an eye of curiosity in their commander's direction.

Lucci sighed deeply at their question. It was innocent of the surface, sure, but the answer they would receive wouldn't be as pleasant. There was no reason to lie, though. It had been his call to leave them behind (it had been no difficult choice) and unless they wanted to meet a similar fate, the agents would not complain about his decision.

"_They're dead." _

His answer was simple. He didn't feel the need to say anymore, as it would require a much longer explanation Lucci really didn't feel like giving them right now.

…

Nobody said a word. These news were quite appalling… sure, as an agent, you always risked your life when going on secret missions like this, and many of them _had_ died that way, but seriously…? _All of them_? While they had been together with _Lucci_, the strongest member of Cp9 _ever_? How, _how_ the hell was that possible...?

_Just what the hell had gone down on Dawn Island?_

Lucci completely ignored the confused stared his men were giving him, instead glancing back at the burning island right behind them.

The flames were already consuming everything. The giant forest they had entered as the first thing upon arriving was probably the worst… it made sense though, wood burned incredibly well, after all, and to no surprise, the forest had a lot of that.

More fire was also rising above the walls of the city. Lucci knew that, although he could neither see nor hear anything, hundreds - no - thousands of citizens, innocent or not, were currently being cooked alive inside of there.

Lucci, however, didn't feel even the slightest bit of remorse even knowing that. Fire was a merciless force of destruction that spared neither evil nor good people… those unfortunate enough to not have anything to do with this mess were dying needlessly, and he knew that. It was just a necessary sacrifice, unfortunate yes, but necessary…

It seemed completely different from the peaceful, calm, and beautiful hidden gem of an island they had all docked at yesterday. And Lucci knew it would only keep getting worse… it would be even _beyond_ unrecognizable when the marines were done.

Staring into the blinding bright flames slowly consuming Dawn Island and the previously majestic Goa kingdom, Rob Lucci was certain about just one thing:

**_Luffy. The only way that kid was ever gonna see this place again would be in his nightmares._**

* * *

**So. This is it. This is the night that's gonna set everything else I have planned for this Onefic in motion. I... don't know what to say about it really. Reading it through and correcting this really made me realize how much of a cruel person I am... I swear! I don't enjoy writing about these events that will completely break poor little Luffy's heart o-ok?**

**A-anyway, now that I have finally completed this chapter, Luffy's 'journey' at sea can finally begin, so sit tight for that!**

**Oh, and can I just mention how freakin' thankful I am for the reviews I have gotten! Seriously thank you so much, these were a great motivation while writing, even if it's just 6 for now! My story's still starting out, and it's only been out for a few days, so I'm so happy I already have some reviews! To prove my point, here are the answers to you amazing peeps! **

**-mjscev: I am glad my idea interests you, and yes! I promise I will not give up! Also, I will definitely include Shanks a little later... he's gonna do something, I promise, something I definitely hope you will find exciting.**

**-Greer123: I am happy to know that!**

** 123: Thanks a bunch! Yes, don't worry, I can at least promise you that Luffy will in fact escape somehow. Unfortunately, I will not be including any of the straw hats in this Onefic (sorry) and yes, Ace is in fact already in the Grand Line, already a part of Whitebeard's crew, _and_ the second division commander. Sorry if this seems a little unbelievable, but as the author, I want to have at least a little plot convenience... as to why I didn't just wait longer than 6 months, well, it's because I freakin' adore 14-year old Luffy, k? Also, happy that you're looking forward to the future of this story :D**

**CrackPairingsRule: Yes, the beginning of this story is honestly what I was the most anxious about sharing (not much happens until ch4) so I'm happy you at least enjoyed it! Also, knowing there's someone looking forward to reading more is always a great motivation too!**

**Guest 1: Thanks, glad you like the beginning, but beware, this story is only gonna keep getting more and more intense as we go!**

**Guest 2: Your review is a lot similar to guest 1s (don't know how that's happened but whatever). Happy to write something you find interesting, I will certainly keep writing more!**

**That's all for now :D New chappie can be expected within a few days waiting time. **

_**-Cookie**_


	5. An unfriendly chat

**Hey there! Has it been a while? I sure feel like it has, even if it's just a few days. I don't wanna blabber too much here at the top, but please do make sure you read the AN at the bottom of this chapter for a few important messages :D**

_**Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :) **_

**Remember that you can always Favorite or Follow if you want (I promise you it will be highly appreciated) and without further ado, here's the chapter: **

* * *

**Part 5: An unfriendly chat**

Few things managed to piss off vice-admiral Garp. The man was always such an open-minded and careless old geezer, one who had a love for rice crackers and a tendency to not take things very seriously. That very child-like personality of his often threw people off on their first encounter with the man… it was hard to believe _he_ was really Garp the fist, hero of the marines.

The man, however, was _not_ one to be underestimated, neither strength or experience-wise, anybody with even just the tiniest amount of brains (and who valued their life) knew that… and if not... well, then they sure as _hell_ were gonna learn the **_hard_** way.

Back in his younger days, he was a marine famous (and infamous amongst all lawless) for constantly chasing the pirate king, Gold Roger, himself, and was even seen known as his _equal_. His _rival_.

Of course, he also clashed fists with other notorious pirates, such as Shiki the golden lion, Don Chinjao with a bounty of 500.000.000 Beli in his prime, and the strongest man in the _world_, Whitebeard, as well.

Honestly, the only reason he hadn't already been promoted to the status of admiral was thanks to his laziness. Becoming an admiral meant a butt-load of responsibilities and work the man would just avoid anyway even if by some miracle he accepted.

With such a legend resting on his shoulders, it was no wonder really that amongst the greatness and fame he had achieved, he had also gotten to be witness and victim to a butt load of crap, a lot of which certainly would have rendered any ordinary old geezer unable to keep working as a _marine… _

_Mostly, _Garp was (or at least seemed) unfazed by those sorts of incidents.

Either he would simply laugh it off and goof his way out of actually taking it seriously, or, (an occurrence as rare as Luffy saying something semi-smart) he would finally accept the truth… that things were indeed very dire and that he needed to start acting like the 73-year old vice-admiral that he was.

And despite that… despite the abominations he had the government and navy to thank for getting to be apart of, despite knowing _damn well _of the corruption hiding the shadows… this… _this _was enough to make him _**fuming**_…

Garp was stomping his way through the hallways of Navy HQ, receiving a ton of unsettled looks from the terrified marines who rapidly moved out of the way to stay clear of the man's rage.

Nobody (they would all like to not be killed today thank you very much) dared walk up and ask what was causing Garp to act this unusual way.

_Garp always took even the worst of news just fine... (at least if laughing his butt off half of the times was considered "fine") nobody had ever seen him this angry before… _

Garp, however, completely ignored the scared whimpers from the soldiers who were supposed to idolize him (not that he blamed them). It was probably for the best that they avoided him anyway… with how angry he was, he honestly wouldn't be surprised if he ended up bashing someone's head in by accident…

_Maybe he would go relieve his anger on some uninhabited island a later… that would probably be the safest for everyone._

For now, though, he had another destination in mind… immediately upon receiving the shocking news, Garp had decided to go pay Sengoku a little visit to tell him just how much they've managed to mess up this time...

At his current paste (the man was _walking _faster than most children could _run_) it took only another few seconds before the familiar door was within sight. Garp didn't hesitate and immediately thrust open the damn thing (nearly causing the poor innocent door to fly off its hinges), not caring in the least if he was intruding or interrupting something important, which, fortunately, didn't seem to be the case.

Garp stormed over and slammed his two giant fists into Sengoku's desk. (Poor furniture keeps getting abused).

The fleet admiral didn't seem particularly concerned, or the least bit surprised about Garp's sudden appearance… he even had the guts to return Garp's infuriated look with a calm facade of his own.

"What the hell Sengoku!? How come I just received a report explaining that a freaking _buster call_ was summoned on Dawn Island!? What were you _thinking_!? The island's in the _East Blue_ for freak's sake, there should have been absolutely _no_ reason for something that extreme!" Garp burst out, not caring in the least how disrespectful he was being towards his superior.

He and Sengoku might have been good friends for a long ass time, but that sure as hell didn't mean he wouldn't yell out against him after pulling a stunt as messed up as this one.

"Garp. I'd strongly advise you to calm down and remember your position."

Although Sengoku's voice was cold and empty, his 'advise' wasn't a threat like normal, more just a calm encouragement telling Garp to restraint himself. After hearing what had gone at Dawn Island, he had more than expected a reaction just like this from Garp…

He felt sorry - _sympathetic_ even - for his old friend, but unfortunately, there was no helping it and no changing things now that it had come to this…

"Screw my position! You've stepped _way_ past the line this time! Those people were innocent and you know it!"

"Need I remind you that that call was not mine to make? Rob Lucci from Cipher Pohl 9 was the one who went to investigate and the one to deem a buster call appropriate." Sengoku answered, greatly annoyed that he had to tell Garp of such an obvious fact.

"That brat, huh? I swear to Oda I'll go murder him for the crap he's pulled this time!" Garp snarled, immediately turning around, cracking his knuckles and heading straight for the door to do just that.

_He swore, letting Lucci destroy Dawn Island like this would be the last mistake that _kid _ever got to make, to hell with his position or title as a marine hero!_

"Wait, Garp!" Sengoku called, instantly standing from his comfy office chair.

The old fleet-admiral quickly felt a headache incoming. This was exactly the reason he had wanted to keep Garp in the dark, at least as much as possible. Being a vice-admiral, as well as a close friend, it would have only been a matter of time before he found out, but Sengoku had prayed for at least another week to pass. Then, Garp would be focused solely on getting to visit Luffy, who at that point would be fully in their custody, rather than getting worked up like this…

Garp, however, chose to completely ignore Sengoku's order to stay, and (barely able to control his body thanks to his fury) kept walking with his fists clenched tightly and longing for some pain…

Sengoku, knowing very well what would happen if something or somebody didn't stop Garp, cursed under his own breath. He was was just about to run after the man - restrain him and get him locked up until he was calmer if that proved necessary - but a gruff voice interrupted and stopped both him and Garp in their tracks:

"Hmp, you're still just an old sentimental fool, Garp. That boy's very existence is a sin… he's the reason all this was necessary... anybody supporting him very much deserved the fate they received."

The man to speak was another important figurehead for the marines. Unlike Garp, however, this man's reputation was infamous amongst all pirates _as well_ as marines as a ruthless man who was willing to do anything to follow through with his belief in ultimate justice.

Despite his questionable ideals, he _was_ an admiral, which gave him all the rights in the world to talk in this unsympathetic matter.

"_Huh?"_

Garp only felt his anger increase from the offense… he was definitely _not_ in a mood to be provoked. Even if Akainu _was_ half correct (Luffy's existence _was _the reason this all happened, although Garp strongly disagreed that it was his fault) he would not, as a grandpa, stand by idly and let this bastard badmouth his grandchild like this.

"You better shut your damn mouth right now, Sakazuki. You're still 100 years too young to be insulting _me_, much less teaching me about the rights and wrongs of the world." Garp sounded dangerously close to snapping at the admiral and punching him straight in the face.

Despite the intimidating tone of voice, Akainu merely snorted at Garp's warning and continued to sit, unmoved by Garp's threat. He turned his head to stare straight _up _(usually Garp was the one to look up at him thanks to their difference in height) into Garp's wrath-filled eyes, that surely would make a lesser man cower in fear.

"It's laughable how easily you let your emotions get the best of you… if my memory serves me right, that entire search was set off just confirm the existence of the son of the revolutionary Dragon. That boy who was captured as a result of the investigation would also just so happen to be your grandson, Garp, but even if that's the case, I'm assuming he has no intention of working for the government… such a kid is bound to grow up into nothing but trouble."

Garp flinched from anger at that specific comment.

_Immediately, memories of the small reckless kid who still called him grandpa after all the crap he had put him through flashed his mind… _

_How he would always pass out from exhaustion after being put through his 'training' and then slept on his back in the most adorable manner… how he would run around and always get hurt, and despite that, never ever stop plastering that stupidly wide grin on his face._

If not for the fact that Garp in the last minute remembered "Akainu" Sakazuki was a thick-headed bastard, no matter the situation and people involved, he would have undoubtedly have murdered him right then and there.

"That's right. Guess you're still the same sick man who ordered the rescue ship filed with civilians to be blown up during that Ohara incident 17 years ago…" Garp said aloud, mostly just to make himself feel better since he knew such a comment was barely an insult to the wretched marine admiral.

_He knew though… that there was nothing he could do any longer to protect Luffy from people like him…_

Luffy's heritage had been discovered, and his life was now resting in the hands of the World Government… whatever horrible fate they had planned for him (honestly, he'd be surprised in an execution would be all. They would have killed him already if they simply wanted him dead), Garp didn't even want to _think_ of.

Dawn Island was now gone. _Gone like that._ Turned into a burning hell for all the unfortunate innocent civilians who were left behind to be consumed by the flames...

And it sure as hell didn't help that the _nobility_ of all people were the ones who were evacuated and allowed to escape.

Those snotnosed nobles were probably just complaining to no end about suddenly being _forced_ (them, being superior to any ordinary lowlife _human_, how dare those agents tell them what to do!?) to abandon their fancy houses and _camp out_ (the word alone sent shivers down their spines) on a dirty, smelly, non-polished, non-fancy marine battleship, completely oblivious to the fact that they were lucky to even be allowed to live.

Those filths were getting moved to another peaceful island without a current king... somewhere where Goa kingdom would be rebuilt (to hell with the people who would be forced to change their lives because of it) and that entire incident would simply be swept under the rug. (The nobles sure as hell wouldn't tell anyone… what did they care if a bunch of garbage humans had been killed?)

Garp had had enough. Deciding he didn't want to continue his pointless argument with Akainu, leaving to be on his own and collect his thoughts seemed like a far more tempting option right now.

"Hmp," He snarled turning towards the door to leave.

'_Brat.'_

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

The old cell door creaked loudly as it was carelessly pushed (and left) open. A single agent nervously entered the small stinky chamber, and immediately, an unsettling feeling swelled up in his stomach.

In his hands he held a tray of food (nothing special really...a single bread, steaming hot soup and glass of water)... most unfortunately, it was his turn to make sure the kid was fed, but already, he could tell that would _still_ prove to be an impossible task.

Luffy sat curled up into a tiny ball in the corner of his cell… exactly like he had been for the past 2 weeks.

Honestly, if not for the fact that Luffy every now and then would begin to sob ever so quietly (still without moving or lifting his head, though…), the agents might have thought him to already be dead from how quiet he was being.

Not once had he as much as flinched or made even the tiniest squeal when one of them would enter or approach his cell. In the beginning, they had been scared the boy might try and escape at every given possibility… take advantage of the cell being opened when food would be delivered to even pull the classic "I need to poop, let me out, I swear I won't run" but… he _hadn't_… still didn't…

Carefully, the man placed down the tray of food on the ground, though didn't break his gaze from the suffering child…

Luffy truly didn't seem to care about anything anymore… not about his injuries that were only slowly healing thanks to the seastone cuffs around his wrists, not about his hopelessly dire situation that would surely result in nothing but suffering for the kid (then again, was it even possible for him to suffer any _more_ than he already was..?), and sure as hell not about eating anything either.

The agent swore Luffy had gotten thinner (like _a lot_ thinner) during his short time in captivity...(not that he by any means was worried about his health, but they still needed to keep him alive somehow until they reached their destination).

He would never bat the food they gave him an eye, leaving it to get cold and for the rats to devour. If nothing, then _they_ at least seemed happy about Luffy's refusal to eat since they got to feast every day.

The agent kept staring, for a moment considering saying something to Luffy to see if he could get him to respond or somethin'...

"Hey, what's taking so long? Hurry up in there!" One of the guards stationed outside the cell called maybe just a tad bit too harshly….

Not that anybody blamed him, guarding a prisoner who refused to as much as talk made his job incredibly easy, sure, but also unimaginably _boring_!

"S-sorry," he stuttered, now finally managing to snap out his thoughts. The agent hurriedly exited the discomforting cell (he was sure as hell happy he wasn't the one trapped in there), slamming the cell door behind him (in fact so loudly it echoed creepily throughout the silent prison), before inserting the key back into the old rusty lock and with a _click, _securely locked the door.

Luffy heard the man's footsteps slowly get fainter as he walked further and further away from his cell, until they eventually, they disappeared completely. Luffy knew that sound probably was the last one he would hear in a long time…

He didn't care, though. About the silence, (if anything, he was just happy those jerks stayed away and left him alone) about the complete darkness of his cold cell, about where they were headed or what would happen once they got there… not even about the meal right within his reach…

His stomach growled loudly as the delicious smell hit him. His entire body was _screaming_ for food, his stomach twisting in pain, his head pounding from the lack of fluids, and his limbs heavy from energy loss.

Previously, Luffy had _hated_ being hungry. He hated the empty feeling in his stomach, hated growing weak just because he didn't eat (and food was delicious, something he very much had enjoyed devouring), but now, he simply shrugged the stupid hunger aside.

_After all, the pain from his wounds and malnourished body still _paled _in comparison to the misery his tormenting memories still caused him._

Luffy hugged his legs tighter. He had no clue how long he had been sitting there (not that he had tried keeping track of time anyway), though judging from how sore his muscles were, it was a long time, apparently.

He didn't know what was night or day any longer… there was no window for sunlight or moonlight to shine through, and only a few torches (all of them hanging in the hallways _outside_ of his cell, of course) brought light into the prison.

The only way Luffy had been able to tell the difference, in the beginning, was because he would fall asleep when night fell. Luffy didn't sleep any longer.

He simply couldn't... The nightmares he would get were far too real… the explosions, the fire… _Makino_ and everybody's facial expressions when they-

_Luffy mentally shook his head. No… he didn't want to think about that right now..._

It was…. everything he failed to protect and prevent… it always returned to haunt him in his sleep, and he would wake up screaming, his body trembling, and with tears streaming down his face - tears that at that point would take hours to finally stop.

So Luffy simply stayed awake… it was tough, though… he had never been somebody who was very good at staying up late, but at least forcing himself to stay conscious at all times was a good distraction from the physical pain.

Of course, not even when he was awake was he safe… there was no stopping his feelings of guilt… of regret… of not being stronger or done something more from hitting him **_hard_.**

Luffy had grown very familiar with those feelings and no longer tried to push them away. If he did, the unbearable memories would start flooding in and prove him wrong… prove that it was all his fault… his fault that Dadan, and the villagers, and the bandits, and Makino had to die like that while _he_ was still alive...

Luffy bit his lip hard, but he still couldn't hold back the tears that immediately overflowed a second later...

_It wasn't fair! _

The agents had since the very beginning been after _him_ and him alone! It was stupid… _they_ were stupid.

He had never even met his dad, never seen his face, only just heard his name for the first time! And yet _**still**_… still had they not _only _burnt down his and Ace's and Sabo's treehouse but even gone ahead and killed everybody else while insisting that he alone remained alive!

_It made Luffy sick. Sicker than disrespecting his body's need for food and exercise could ever hope to make him._

Luffy couldn't help but think of his grandpa… the old man had continuously gone on and on about how he should not become a filthy pirate, and instead join the good guys - the navy - become a marine.

He was a marine _vice-admiral_, right? That meant he worked for the same government as these sick bastards… had he done something like this too? Did he really accept this? Blowing up islands and killing innocents? Was that really the 'justice' he was so proud of?

It made no sense. His grandpa (despite being a complete monster who _clearly_ didn't care about if he was hurt or nearly died) was a good guy. These suit-wearing jerks weren't. And yet, they were supposed to be the same.

Luffy found himself struggling hard thinking about just that (normally, he would never think this much but all his emotions, need to stay awake somehow, and need for a distraction from his hunger made it unavoidable) when he heard the familiar sound of feet tapping against the wooden floor…

_Somebody was coming…_

It was strange, considering he had just gotten his food and the agents otherwise mostly left him on his own to grieve…

Not that it mattered to Luffy anyway who was coming… it wasn't like they could do anything to make his current situation any worse, (heck they were very much welcome to try)… but aside from the daily random agent delivering a meal, only two people ever 'visited' him.

This time (unsurprisingly) it was Lucci. Strangely enough, after they had returned to the ship, a pigeon had made itself comfortable on the man's shoulder, which even more strangely, Lucci didn't seem to mind in the least. Because of this (and because Luffy despised the man too much to actually want to call him by his name), Luffy had nicknamed him "pigeon-guy." A fitting name indeed, though one he, unfortunately, had yet to say aloud.

Luffy could feel him looking at him... Lucci's eyes were like daggers piercing right through him… like the stone-cold eyes of a hunter staring down upon his defeated pray.

Luffy was quite the pathetic sight… broken both physically and mentally. Lucci doubted he was ever gonna fully recover from this… maybe he could learn to live with the trauma, but he knew, knew that the brat he had briefly met at Dawn would never completely return.

Not that Lucci didn't appreciate his silence… it made him a very easy prisoner to transport since he neither resisted or even attempted to escape.

Despite Luffy's reluctance to speak, Lucci knew the kid wanted no more than for him to leave… he couldn't imagine the grudge he must have developed against him and the World Government…

Just seeing his face surely sparked his anger… a shame he was too weak - too young and defenseless - to do anything about that rage. Lucci would have loved to let him live another few years… let his anger motivate him to reach great new strengths, let his hatred for the world grow bigger and then eventually get to fight the man he would have become.

_That would have surely made for a _thrilling _battle… a shame Monkey D. Luffy would probably be dead before such a thing could happen._

Lucci let out a sigh and stopped fantasizing. His main reason for being there was simple… he still had questions left unanswered, and in his current mindset, he was sure Luffy would (intentionally or not) give him the answers he sought.

_"**Portgas D. Ace" **_

_Luffy visibly tensed up at the mention of that name... a feat that until now had proven totally impossible._

"Back at Dawn Island, we found clear evidence suggesting the two of you are brothers. Tell me, would that happen to be true?" Lucci questioned.

_For the first time in weeks, Luffy moved. Even if it was just his head… even if it only rose ever so slowly, the message was written plain and clear in his wrath-filled eyes._

Alright, Lucci had managed to catch his attention… and unlike all other questions he had been asked during his time in captivity (interrogation had quickly been dropped), this was one he simply couldn't let slide.

_Ace… his brother's name sounded so distant it almost felt like it belonged to a stranger. Normally, Luffy would always feel nothing but happiness… nothing but excitement, joy, relief… pure… happy feelings whenever anybody would bring up his brother. _

_But not him. Not these guys. They… they couldn't - no_ _\- he wouldn't_ **allow **_them to do anything to Ace too… not like they had done to everybody else he had cared about. _

"Don't you guys _dare _do anything to Ace!"

Luffy's throat was dry, turning his voice horse. Still, his tone of voice was sharp, making it clear that he wasn't warning, but _demanding_ that they stayed away from him.

"That all depends on your answer. In case we're right, we'll have no choice but to take action against Fire Fist. But he's already been marked off as dangerous anyway… since the two of you clearly have a strong connection, there's no telling what he, or possibly the entirety of the Whitebeard crew would do if they were to find out about you."

'_And Whitebeard isn't the only one either…'_ Lucci mentally added.

Luffy was indeed a very dangerous pawn to possess… Ace and Whitebeard weren't their only concerns, after all. The danger of enraging big names and figures, however, would be worth it, apparently, since the government was so set on keeping Luffy alive for now.

Lucci's reply, however, did not seem to do any good to calm down Luffy's anger… the child gritted his teeth.

_Were he and Ace brothers…? Even if these men had nothing but ill intent towards him… towards_ Ace_, how could he possibly deny such a true fact? He couldn't lie. Not about Ace. _

"Ace and I made a promise over cups of sake to become brothers! Wherever we are or whatever we're doing, that bond will never be broken… no matter what!" Luffy declared loud and proud as the little brother that he was.

Lucci had seemingly no reaction to Luffy's outburst, though he did feel a wave of relief pour over him.

His gut feeling had been correct… even if Ace and Luffy surely _could_ be _real_ brothers (their features were - coincidentally Lucci knew for sure now - pretty similar) Luffy was indeed the only son of Dragon, and that's all that really mattered.

Still, this case had made him wonder just who Ace's parents were… despite not being blood-related, they still shared the D in their names, which on its own raised red flags. There were only so many Ds out there… chances were, Ace's parents were criminals too. Lucci made a mental note to maybe look into that after this mission was over.

"I see." Lucci said, uninterested in any further history between the two 'brothers' for now, instead turning his attention to the straw hat hanging ever so casually around Luffy's neck.

(Honestly, how it had managed to not get burnt while they had traveled through the sea of fire to reach the ship at Dawn Island was a mystery…)

"There's another matter it'd like to discuss… that straw hat you have… I believe you got it from red-haired Shanks." Lucci stated - not asked. There was really no other explanation, and the picture they had found in _his_ home proved it.

Luffy flinched from surprise, clearly having not expected to hear _that_ name now - here - of all times and places.

"Shanks? How do you know that?"

The previous anger in Luffy's voice was now replaced by confusion and worry. He hadn't seen or heard anything from the man in over 7 years… not that he in _any_ way doubted Shanks's or the others' strength, but he certainly hoped nothing bad had happened to him after he left…

"Tell me the truth… just what happened between you? How did a Yonko manage to lose his arm? It was all you… wasn't it?"

Luffy flinched yet again.

As much as he wished that assumption was a lie too, sadly, it wasn't.

It was the truth. The bloody (literally), unchangeable, dreadful goddamn truth - a regret he to this day (or was it night..?) still remembered painfully clear.

It _had_ all been his fault… just like everything now was because of him and because he was too weak… but... how did these guys know this? How did they know everything about him - about the people he had met, about the people he cared about? Were they _that_ set on making his life a living hell from now on!?

Luffy, however, refused to say any of that out loud. He didn't need to tell these bastards anything, much less give them more reason to target Shanks as well. (Little does he know…)

Lucci, however, saw the obvious glint of hurt in Luffy's eyes… in other words, whatever had occurred back then had been an accident… an accident which he had been responsible for (at least partly)… and accident which he still felt some kind of guilt for.

_He just needed a_ little _push… _

"Huh, it's a shame really… red-haired Shanks has a reputation of being incredibly strong, one of the greatest pirates at sea. But if he managed to lose his arm for apparently no reason whatsoever in the _East Blue_ nonetheless, I guess that must mean he really is just all talk… _that he's really __**incredibly weak**_**.**" Lucci snickered, even smirking cockily to further taunt the Yonko.

_Ok, __**that**_ _was it_.

In the blink of an eye, Luffy leaped at Lucci at full power (which, honestly, wasn't that powerful at this point…), being stopped only by the stupid bars in his way. Lucci didn't as much as flinch, even if the sound of Luffy suddenly grabbing the steel-bars tightly rumbled loud as thunder throughout the silent prison.

Luffy locked his gaze with Lucci's, not allowing the bastard to look away.

"Take that back! Shanks is not weak! Shanks is… Shanks is...! Shanks is the man I swore to surpass! He left me his straw hat and told me to become a great pirate, and that's what I'm gonna do!" Luffy said straight to Lucci's face. He would have yelled, but the stupid seastone made it impossible for him to raise his voice.

Lucci's eyes widened considerably from surprise… he certainly hadn't expected those words from the mouth of a 14-year old kid.

_Clearly_, Luffy had no clue _**who**_ Shanks really was… in his eyes, Shanks was _just_ a pirate he had befriended - a man he liked and _admired_, not because of his status, but because of something entirely different…

And Shanks… Shanks didn't just _like_ Luffy - didn't just see him as a good friend or some little kid he wanted to protect as he had originally thought...

No… Shanks had, let's say, made a bet… _him_, a man who had traveled across the entire Grand Line alongside the pirate king, a man who fully knew the true dangers of the seas, had made a bet… a bet that Luffy actually _could_ fulfill his promise, _could_ actually surpass him, _a Yonko_.

_He had even gone as far as to give him his treasured straw hat and giving up his arm to ensure his future…_

_Lucci saw it now…. Luffy and Shanks were more than just friends… both of them respected each other (perhaps one a bit more than the other, but still…), Luffy of course, looking up to Shanks because of his strength and Shanks respecting Luffy's dream to become a pirate._

'_This is troublesome…' _Lucci thought, sighing heavily.

Just as he had thought, Shanks was yet another important figure strongly involved in this mess - another person who, no matter what, could _not_ get wind of the government's action, or maybe, a literal war could actually break out… a _war_. _For Luffy._

The thought was not only a shocking realization to the intelligent man but as he used just a few seconds to try and predict how such a war against two Yonkos and The Revolutionary Army would end, things were starting to look pretty grim for the marines and Government...

Suddenly, Lucci broke his gaze away from Luffy and began walking away from the cell. He had managed to get the answers to the question that had been greatly bugging him for the past weeks, and this definitely needed to be reported immediately…

_The good news was that Luffy was (as suspected) Dragon's only son… _

_The bad news was that Shanks (as suspected) would also take action, were he to find out about this._

"Oi!" Luffy called as soon as he noticed Lucci intended to leave.

_He wouldn't let him leave! Not when he knew he could potentially go after Shanks or Ace!_

"Come back here! I'm not done talking to you!"

Lucci merely batted Luffy and eye, of course not listening to his shrieks.

"I suggest you be thankful for even being allowed time on your own… we'll be arriving at Enies Lobby in another 2 weeks time. As soon as the judicial island is within sight, it'll be too late for anything or anybody to save you... you might possibly never have a quiet moment in the rest of already greatly shortened life," Lucci warned.

Luffy's grip around the stupid bars (they were all that was preventing him from bashing out and beating the crap out of Lucci, to hell with his seastone cuffs or weakened body). That's not what he wanted to hear… as if any of that stuff even mattered!

"I don't care about that! I don't care about what happens to _me_! Just tell me you guys aren't planning on hurting anybody else!"

His cry was met by a daunting silence… Luffy wanted answers - reassurance that nothing bad was gonna happen to the last people he still had to care about.

Lucci heard him... But he felt no need to make such a promise. He_ highly_ doubted any of this would come to pass without somebody getting killed...

Luffy watched Lucci walk further and further away (well, actually it was hard seeing him in the first place. Curse his black hair and black suit) for mere seconds before he was completely gone… disappeared into the darkness of the (from his point of view) never-ending hallway.

_Now… Luffy was yet again left alone to deal with the silence._

"_Damn it!" _He whispered loudly, slamming his hand with all power he still had left against the stupid bars in a pathetic attempt at breaking them down.

_Of course, it did nothing_.

"Damn it!"

_Yet again, he bashed against the bars without luck. _

"_**Damn it!"**_

* * *

**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooo! It... it can't be over yet! I... I don't want to end the chapter here... *sniff sniff***

**Ugh, let me explain, ok? I have some bad news... so... let's just get it out: **

**I have for the last couple of months been struggling a lot with very annoying very intense pain in my back. It's actually the reason I keep writing day after day on this... because I'll have nothing to do otherwise, and I have to stay home from school (I'm in 7th grade btw) and can't ever go out or even bend over at this point, so having something to fix my attention on is really great! It has, however, gotten pretty bad lately, so therefore, I will be spending the next couple of days in the hospital...**

**Sadly, that means no updates for... I'd say, a week... at least. T.T**

**Sorry if this chapter is a bit short... I had some pretty exciting plans for this chappie, but time was running short, so this is what I ended up with, and I really didn't want to make you wait 'till I've been discharged...**

**Alright, enough with the gloom (I'm only mentioning my because I'll feel bad about not writing when I want to so badly. Everybody has their own struggles to deal with, and my back is my back) **

**Here's a bit more fun question for you: **

**Would you rather have semi-lengthy chapters (about 5K-8K words) and have to wait about 4 or 5 days for updates, or would you prefer much longer chapters (10K+) but have to wait a bit over a week...? **

**Plz let me know, I'm struggling to make a decision XD**

**Also thanks so so _so_ much to anybody who has reviewed :D It really helped with the pressure of getting this thing finished in time.**

**AND HAPPY (sorry its a bit late) 2020 EVERYONE! WHOOP WHOOP! Hope everybody stayed nice and safe during new years and nor you or anybody you know or love got hurt. **

** I guess that's all I really have to say for now... see you when I have the new chapter ready :) **

**_-Cookie_**


	6. A friendly chat

**Heyo, I'm back from the land of the dead! GHA! So so_ so_ sorry for taking this long to update. It's just been a mess... I was in the hospital for a week, then I came home and immediately began writing only to realize my original idea didn't work so I had to delete everything and change it around, my older sister turned 26, my dad had his birthday too... yea, it's been a little rough, but it's now calm and now finally time to update! **

**But no excuses from here on out! I sweat the next chapters will _not_ take 2 weeks to get out, ok? :)**

**Also - HOLY! WHAT IN THE SACRED NAME OF EIICHIRO ODA (who btw, along with Toei animation have all rights to One piece) HAS HAPPENED WHILE I'VE BEEN GONE!? So many new reviews and favs and follows... *sobs* Thanks so much to everyone! I will definitely be leaving some replies at the bottom of the chapter, so definitely look forward to that! (Or just ignore it if you don't care, that's fine too)**

_**Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :) **_

** Enough blabbering, here's what you're really here for:**

* * *

**Part 6: A friendly chat**

Luffy laid on the ground pathetic, exhausted, and completely defeated.

For the past hours (that's what it felt like at least) Luffy had been non-stop hitting against the bars (not that anybody was worried he was gonna break free in his weakened state, but it was still hella annoying), all the while he had been yelling after Lucci in a desperate attempt to get him to come back and face him again.

Luffy's sudden change in behavior had greatly startled the guards who at first had found themselves dumbfounded and not knowing what to do...

Although they over the years had captured many different people with very varying personalities, they hadn't just magically become experts in the area…

It was only after a few minutes of constant screaming and bashing against the bars that the agents understood… if this carried on, not a single soul on the warship would get a peaceful night's rest.

It would be fine, though, he was just a kid after all. "_Just wait it out"_ they thought. "_He'll calm down eventually"_ they'd thought.

_Boy had they been wrong_.

Luffy was remarkably tenacious, they'd give him that much despite the crap they threw at him. After realizing that important fact, the guards had immediately begun yelling at Luffy, telling him to shut up.

_That certainly hadn't worked. All they had gotten in return was a chilling glare and a demand for Lucci to come back. When they'd refused him yet again, Luffy's tantrum had just gotten worse._

It was like Luffy had suddenly tapped into some sleeping energy source he had been hiding behind those tears and miserable face of his… but what exactly caused him to act like this, the perplexed agents for the love of Oda couldn't (not that they wanted to know anyway) figure out.

Luffy, however, could care less about their obliviousness… he now (at least temporarily) had a reason to resist, a reason to get mad, a reason to fight back.

_Ace… Shanks… _

_No matter what happened to him, he just needed to know for sure these jackasses weren't gonna hurt them too. _

_He swore… if they planned any_more _fishy things, they were gonna __**pay**_… he _would make them pay. Somehow. Definitely. To hell if he was behind bars and chained by those weird chains that took away his strength. _

Of course, all of this had happened a while ago.

Although it had just been 10 minutes, the agents felt like they were about to lose their goddamn minds. They had been just about to unlock his cell, enter and then give him a nice good hard hid across the head to (for _everybody's _good) put him to sleep.

_Fortunately for both parties, that hadn't been necessary, as Luffy in the last moment had suddenly collapsed onto the ground, his strength, stamina, and voice completely past their limits._

It was the exhaustion from not sleeping - Luffy suspected, though he wasn't sure. Luffy had been overcome solely by his exhaustion...

The agents had simply been thankful for the peace (_finally!_) and chosen to completely ignore that Luffy's body suddenly giving in like that couldn't mean anything freat. They'd left the kid on his own to go spend their time on some more important(*cough* play cards *cough cough*) things instead.

_The agents, however, had been fools to think it had been over already… _

Luffy had only needed a mere ten minutes of resting on the dirty and uncomfortable floor. Then he'd literally bounced right back up and gone back at it again, yelling, banging and screaming - this time only louder.

Luffy's struggling, however, proved completely useless, as he mere minutes later fell over _again_ in the exact same manner as before. Weak. _Useless. _

_Ultimately, all he had managed to accomplish was greatly pester his captors while also exerting the tiny bit of strength he had had left. _

His throat was dried up from yelling… his lungs were burning worse than they ever had before - even more so than way back when when he had still been a short-legged 7-year old foolishly chasing after a much older and bigger boy…

His hands were now also throbbing painfully from his careless punching, and would more likely than not end up swelling even more than they already were.

Luffy innerly cursed the stupid handcuffs. They were making his healing process painfully slow, and he constantly felt like he was gonna tumble if he tried standing, or got extremely tired even just by moving his body in the slightest.

Luffy hated it. He hated being this weak in front of those Cp jackasses, even if (at least to _some_ degree) it was his own fault.

True, he was the one not eating and not even _attempting_ to work out somehow inside his cell, but then again, he wouldn't even _be_ in a situation for this if not for them. It was his fault. His fault for being weak, because that meant he had been unable to protect anybody.

But massively, it was also _their _fault. Had they just minded their own business, had they simply left him and Makino and Dadan and Dawn Island alone, none of this would have happened. Nobody would have died. He wouldn't even be here in the first place, that's for sure.

"You're a pitiful sight, you know that?"

The insult came from the guard currently in charge of keeping an eye on Luffy. He stared down at him from the other side of the bars, and although he was indeed wearing (in Luffy's opinion, a very ugly pair) sunglasses, the 14-year could _fee_l the man's disgusted look.

Luffy glared sharply back at him. His lungs might be causing him pain so great he couldn't speak, but that didn't mean he couldn't show how much he truly hated the man.

"What's with that look? Surely you've realized that there's no hope for you, right? A weak little child like you never even stood a chance in the first place, so what's the point in fighting like this?"

"...screw that!" Luffy uttered weakly in response - much weaker, in fact, than he'd like when talking back to these guys.

The heartless man said nothing. He already had plenty of experience from just the past few hours that you simply could _not_ reason with Luffy.

He didn't care about ridiculing himself… actually, he appeared to not care about anything concerning himself anymore. The only reason he was still clinging on - still getting worked up at all, was because he (despite everything he had already lost) still had something - _someone_ he could still care about.

_But that person - well, those people - were certainly not himself. _

Not that he in any way felt guilty for that. He just found it incredibly annoying how this sudden spark had been lighted inside Luffy.

Even if he was completely helpless, and the possibility that he could, like escape or something was certainly _out of the question_, he still definitely preferred the silence from the past 2 weeks over _this_.

Their argument, however, was cut short by the sound of a creaking door suddenly being opened in the distance.

Luffy tensed from the sudden unexpected noise, and with his remaining strength, managed to grab onto the bars and force himself up into somewhat of a sitting position. The footsteps that sounded a second later proved that somebody was coming... If that somebody was a certain pigeon bastard, he needed to be ready.

Luffy's view was pretty limited from inside the cell, but still, it very soon became apparent to Luffy that he, unfortunately, had gotten his hopes up for no reason.

A silhouette quickly came into view. It was small, skinny, and unlike every other person on the ship, wore not black but white. A doctor's cloak, it appeared. Plus, this person also had much longer hair so… a woman, then.

"You." She spoke.

Her voice was cold and strict (oddly enough a lot like Lucci's) and was pointed directly at the stumbling guard.

"_**Move**_."

The order was clear. Even if the man knew the woman held no ill intentions toward him (at least not yet), he sure as _hell _wouldn't want to know what would happen if he were to not do as he was told.

"Y-yes ma'am!" He stuttered, hurriedly stepping aside and giving her _plenty_ of space to do her job.

The woman stopped right in front of Luffy's cell and cast a quick glance down at the kid who was staring up at her with big confused (though fearless) eyes. Her body tensed from surprise, but she kept quiet, simply staring at him for a few awkward seconds.

"…"

"Hey, you?" She asked, once more addressing the guard.

"Yes..?"

"..."

"_Leave." _

"What?"

What was that supposed to mean? Leave..? And go where exactly!? Even if it was _her_, would that really be alright? He could get in a lot of trouble if anybody saw he had left his post…

"B-but ma'am, I've been assigned to guard the boy… I-I can't just-"

"_**Now**_. I'd advise you against making me repeat myself a third time."

She sent an icy cold death-glare - one that probably rivaled even Lucci's - in his direction, giving the poor man shivers. The agent faltered - almost completely lost his balance and fell on his butt, actually, simply from pure fear. The message was horrifyingly clear.

"Y-yes ma'am!" He cried, instantly dashing past the scary woman, past Luffy, down the long hallway. He did _not_ want to be in the same room as her a second longer than necessary.

The woman stared after him (what a coward, even if he very much had reasons to be scared of her) and waited until the distant sound of a door being thrown open and then loudly slammed had sounded and passed to finally let out a deep sigh she had been holding in.

"Morons…" She muttered under her breath, before finally turning her attention to where it should be. Luffy.

"So. I see someone's finally decided to move about."

Her voice suddenly changed. Unlike earlier, she sounded less heartless - less like a monster who could do or say whatever she wanted, and nobody would have the guts to tell her otherwise… she just sounded more… just like a really strict woman with a very unfriendly personality.

Luffy, however, ignored her rough tone of voice. He had more important thoughts popping up in his head… a non-nice woman wasn't the biggest of his worries.

"Who are you?"

Luffy half expected to be yelled at from that question. He had met many mean women in the past… they always yelled.

Surprisingly, though, instead of getting worked up or annoyed, the woman merely sighed deeply at Luffy's ignorance. Strangely enough, it seemed as if all anger left her along with her exhale.

"So it's been that bad, huh..? Tell me, do you remember anything at all clearly from the past few days?"

Luffy shook his head in response.

It was all just a blur, really… a blur of crying, nightmares, and pain… except for Lucci's visit a little while ago, it all just felt the same... all felt equally awful and hellish and unbearable.

But... why would _she _care about that…?

All the other jackasses he had met only cared about him (scrap that, not about him, just that he was still alive and restrained) just because his father - a man he personally couldn't care less about right now - was somebody bad apparently.

Nobody had been nice enough to actually explain how _that_ worked. Sure, some of the agents really liked to rub it in how he - as the son of some dragon - fully deserved what he was getting, but not _once_ had anybody bothered to tell him why exactly it was important when Luffy himself didn't even care. It was stupid, that's for sure.

The 14-year old kept his gaze fixated on the woman, awaiting her next move. Suddenly, she reached inside her pocket and pulled out a certain shiny object. _A key_. _The_ key - the one that could unlock his cell.

"I've been told your name's Luffy. I'm Kay, the doctor of this shitty dump, and the one who stitched your sorry as- I mean, the one who treated your injuries," Kay was quick to correct for some reason.

Luffy quietly let the piece of information sink in…. Actually, thinking back now, he had been covered in bandages (they were certainly applied more professionally than he, Ace, or Sabo had ever learned) when he had first woken up, and every now and then when he would wake up, his pain would enough have lessened, and his headache would be gone as if somebody had given him some medicine or something…

Also, he _could_ faintly recall somebody actually stopping by to change his bandages every now and then. He, however, had never bothered reacting in any way, or even lift his head to look at the person who was responsible...

He had just assumed it was another suit-wearing jackass who had been forced to do it, but actually, that didn't make a lot of sense. The touch of the person had been too gentle, too careful and the examinations had been too thorough for some heartless asshole who thought of him as lower than trash for that to be the case.

He _would_ thank her for saving his life like that… if not for the fact that she was working _with _the exact same guys who caused the destruction of an entire island - his _home_.

Instead, Luffy remained silent for now, and simply watched as Kay walked over to the door and began unlocking it, also without saying a word. He just now noticed the bag in her hand… knowing that she was a doctor, said bag was probably filled with medicine and doctor tools and stuff.

"Why would you help me..?" Luffy asked.

It just didn't make sense… wasn't she like, these guys' friend or something? Why care that much for him? She could have treated him _just_ so he could manage to get by (it wasn't like he was on his death bed or something anyway), but instead, she went through all this trouble.

"Don't be ridiculous, Luffy. I'm a doctor. That means I treat both the whiny crybabies, the stupidly stubborn nitwits who never admit to being sick or feel pain, but also prisoners - criminals even - who need it. Even if it _is_ a pain in the ass 110% of the time."

The lock clicked. Kay pushed open the door, and completely casually and calmly entered the cell, as if the offspring of the world's most wanted criminal wasn't sitting there, a few mere meters away from her… she even bent down, making herself somewhat comfortable (as comfortable as one can be on dirty hard wooden planks) on the floor beside Luffy.

"Don't move, I'll make it quick," Kay told him strictly.

Luffy did as he was that he needed Kay to tell him to still, as that's what he had gotten pretty used to doing by now anyway… even _if_ (and he was painfully aware of this) it was making him weaker...

It only took Kay 7 mere seconds to notice something was wrong - well, aside from the injuries she had gotten used to seeing over the past few days, that is.

"Hey, Luffy… show me your hands for a sec." Kay asked with a troubled facial expression.

Luffy stared back at her with a puzzled expression in response to that request, once again not understanding the point in that. The doctor, however, send him a warning just-do-what-I-tell-you kind of look, leaving Luffy with no choice but to comply, and hesitantly, stretched out his bandage-covered hands.

Carefully Kay slowly began unwrapping the (currently very loose, dirty, and slightly torn) bandages, only to reveal a pair of bloodied, bruised, and swollen hands. The skin had also, noticeably, turned a bluish color on certain spots, which was anything but good...

Kay's brows furrowed… last time she had checked, it hadn't been nearly this bad.

"What happened?" She questioned.

Luffy shrugged, turning his gaze to the floor.

"I dunno… guess it must've happened earlier when I got mad and punched the door."

Kay silently began examining the hands more closely. It was actually surprising how gentle she was being, considering how crude and unfeeling she appeared to be towards others.

It hurt pretty bad when she pressed on certain extra swollen spots, but Luffy didn't bother to tell her that - didn't even flinch when he felt another painful throb.

"You shouldn't do that."

"Do what?"

"Hurt yourself you little blockhead - even if it's not intentional. You've done well to remain still these last couple of days, which is exactly what your body has been needing to begin healing. Don't be a complete moron and begin to mess up your body now that your injuries are finally starting to heal." Kay scolded.

"Oh and also, don't think I haven't noticed the other kind of crap you pull… you know it's not healthy to lose that much weight over just two weeks, right? And you're still just a young brat - an injured and exhausted brat who needs rest… rest beyond just sitting around on your ass all the time and forcing yourself to stay awake."

The irritated doctor let go of Luffy's battered hands to let her mad gaze to meet the 14-year-old's eyes for a second, just to ensure the kid was really listening to her.

Although he said nothing, the glint of hurt in his eyes proved he had indeed heard, but even so, she doubted he was gonna listen to that command. It wasn't like she could just tell him to stop being sad, and somehow, he would.

Not that she blamed the poor boy… the kid had been just been through hell, so it was truly no wonder his mind was full of crap.

Still, as a doctor - no - as a woman with at least _something_ resembling empathy, guilt, and humanity hidden behind her stone-cold facade, she wasn't gonna sit by idly and let a child hurt, or possibly kill himself like this...

She opened the old dusty bag she had brought, carelessly ruffling through its messy content consisting mostly of syringes, bandages, and a butt load of medicine, searching for the things she needed. She cursed innerly, wishing she was more organized so this wouldn't be such a huge pain.

"Why… why are you nice to me?"

The compliment caused her to freeze. If not for the very grim atmosphere and highly inappropriate situation, she would have without a _doubt_ laughed at such a stupid question.

"Kid, if I'm your definition of nice, then I don't even _want _what kind of life you've been living up till' now to think something that stupid…"

"That's not what I meant! It's just… why don't you see me in the same way as they all do? You don't call me stupid names or tell me what to do like them... Aren't you supposed to be _their_ friend or whatnot, so _why_?"

Luffy stared at her with an absolute soul-crushing I-don't-understand look, making Kay's heart drop. He was simply desperate for an answer… she knew that, but still…

_For a kid to be asking for a reason for somebody to care…_

She couldn't get herself to look Luffy in the eyes. Instead, she chose to focus on cleaning the fresh wounds on his hands. That much she might be able to do without completely losing her composure.

"Oh please, I don't owe those assholes anything. I've seen their true nature. There's no humanity left in any of them… they'd kill anybody without a second thought, all for the sake of their messed up sense of 'justice', though I assume you've seen that already with your own damn eyes, am I right?"

Luffy stiffened considerably at the unsettling question, biting his lip to stop the unbearably painful memories from replaying in his head. Kay understood fully, quickly moving on to save the boy from a thought-provoking silence:

"What happened back at Dawn Island was seriously screwed up… I might have gotten to see a butt-load of crap over the years, but an entire island… just like that… completely lost, just for the sake of a weak snot-nosed 14-year old brat…. how could I possibly _not_ be _disgusted_ by something like that? Even if it won't at all change what's been said and done, I can at least make sure you stay as healthy as possible. Unlike them, I don't enjoy watching innocent children suffer."

Alright. She was now done with the cleaning part (honestly she was amazed at how Luffy hadn't whined even in the slightest. He was sure as hell a lot tougher than some other men she knew, that's for sure)... now she just needed to wrap them all up.

Luffy bit his lip harder - only just managing to stop himself from biting all the way through and making himself bleed again thanks to Kay's earlier warning to cut it off.

Even though Kay's insulting words (in Luffy's simple-minded head) would normally be the equivalent of getting stabbed straight in the heart, he also by now realized just how true her statement was.

He _was_ just a weak kid… this wasn't at all like way back when he Ace and Sabo had still been running around playing pirates together. This wasn't just some game where the worst that could happen was one of them falling down a tree or going hungry to bed because they were unable to catch their dinner.

This was _serious_… they… _Dawn Island_… Makino and Dadan and the bandits and the forest and goa kingdom, and Foshia were already gone. All because of that exact factor. Never before had Luffy thought weakness felt so frustrating...

_And yet, it was, oddly enough, nice to have somebody else who shared that same frustration alongside him… _

"Done." Kay suddenly proclaimed, snapping Luffy back to the current moment.

His hands were now wrapped all nice and tidily with a thick layer of fresh bandages. Although Kay had worked quickly, they weren't at all sloppily applied. They were annoying, though, Luffy immediately concluded. He could barely move his fingers.

Kay quickly noticed the disappointment on the boy's face as he (to no avail) tried wiggling his fingers.

"Don't even think about it. They're broken, through and through, and will need time to heal, plus the fact that your wounds from earlier reopened and could get infected without proper care… under normal circumstances, it would take about 3 weeks, give or take, before your fingers would be fully healed, but in your current condition (she glared with an annoyed expression down on the seastone cuffs), I'd say at least a month or two…"

'_Then again… who's to say a couple of broken fingers will even matter at that point…' _

Kay sighed yet again, as she so often did these days. Even if she was already doing everything within her power to help Luffy, she desperately wanted more…

For Luffy to have some kind of brighter future to look forward to - one that would not involve pain or the government or his ridiculous heritage or anymore suffering and agony than he had already experienced… no more death… no more watching others get hurt.

But of course, this was a battleship belonging to the _marines _\- the most powerful organization in the world, currently being occupied by Cp9 - a secret group so powerful all trace of their existence was mere rumors...

Escape would be pretty damn hard - no, scratch that, impossible the more logically she faced the facts.

Even if he were to escape the cell now, there was nothing but ocean for the next many hundred miles. Of course, that was troublesome to any human but he was a _devil fruit user_ to boot, an anchor, a hammer - completely useless and defenseless should anything unexpected happen...

His chances of surviving on one of the lifeboats were slim at best, if not completely impossible and immensely dangerous.

_Hold on, what was she imagining? _She knew it was pointless to imagine something like that to be possible… she knew that some kind of _miracle_ would have to occur. (Since that was the case, guess she had no choice but to start praying to the god above).

Kay shook her head, quickly to pushing aside the silly thoughts. She still had some work left to do.

'_Alright. Now all that's left to do is change those other bandages around his torso…' _

Silently, the woman swiftly began to do exactly that - once again without any complaint from Luffy, even as she buttoned up his vest (granted his chest was covered in bandages, but still…).

Kay wondered if the boy had ever been taught ordinary human decency considering how unusually little he seemed to care about being half-naked in front of a woman. (He _was_ in _that_ age after all...)

Not that she cared about seeing a little skin… after all, she had seen sooooo much worse during her years as a doctor, but the thought, once again, made her wonder just what kind of life Luffy had been living.

Luffy didn't as much as bat an eye as the huge and ugly (though professionally stitched together) scar across his chest became fully exposed. It ran all the way from his left hip to his right shoulder, and it was still all red and disgusting looking...

_Honestly, it was a very horrific sight… such a wound did_ not _belong on the body of a child. _

Kay was very quick to find the necessary sterile bandages and carefully start wrapping it up, taking her sweet time to ensure it wouldn't get too tight and was as comfortable as possible for Luffy. Cleaning it and changing the stitches could still wait a couple of days, she concluded. For now, it… just needed time... some more time to heal.

"Sorry to say, but that scar's gonna stick with ya'... like _forever_…" Kay admitted truthfully. It was a very sad truth, though, but better than lie and say it would somehow magically go away.

Luffy shook his head in response to this.

"It's fine. It's just a scar after all…"

Kay unintentionally began staring like an idiot with enlarged eyes after hearing that.

Fine…? _FINE_!? That scar would forever serve as a constant reminder of his failure - of the tragedy that befell his home and everybody living there - an unerasable mark literally carved into his flesh to prove how weak he had been!

"... If you say so (*sigh* why did Luffy have to care so little about himself? It was the body he was supposed to be growing in and living in for the rest of his life dammit!)… just don't be going around doing anything too crazy. If the stitches fall out and the wound reopens, you'll start losing a crap-load of blood again. Honestly… this wouldn't be so much of a problem if those _morons_ would simply listen to me and take off those damned cuffs so your body could be allowed to begin healing naturally and in peace-"

"Why are you helping these guys?"

"Huh?"

Luffy's very sudden question (which was completely irrelevant to their current conversation) caught the distressing doctor completely off guard. She blinked in confusion for a few awkward seconds, but was unlike normal not in the least irritated about being interrupted (normally she'd never let such rude behavior slide)…

_She was... merely unsure of why Luffy would ask a question with such an obvious answer. _

"Well, I'm a doctor you know. Is it really that weird to be treating everybody, despite their history or personality?"

"No, that's what I mean. It's just, why are you even here in the first place? You're a good person, so what are you doing helping out these bastards?"

_Ah, so that's what been bugging him for the past few minutes._

Kay waited with answering that particular question. She was just about done re-wrapping the bandages (which also meant her job here was finished) but decided that she would rather continue her chat with Luffy just a little longer before she would have to leave him alone with his nightmares and with the rats again.

At least this way, he wasn't constantly balling his eyes out or sitting in that freakishly depressing manner curled up into a tiny ball in the corner while they were talking. Even if their conversation wasn't exactly doing much to lighten the mood, it was still _some_ kind of improvement, right..?.

"Why am I here? It's… complicated. You see, in the eyes of the rest of the world, the World Government is an organization of good… many people join the Marines in hopes of making a difference, but then eventually learn about the crazy crap that very same organization of 'good' they've been so proudly supporting all this time is pulling behind the scenes… most just turn a blind eye, though, since they're too ashamed to admit how flawed the system really is."

She paused to sigh yet again (maybe it was a bad habit of hers or something…?). This certainly wasn't a conversation she even in her wildest dreams thought she would have to explain to the son of one of the most resourceful and well-informed men in the world.

She didn't judge Luffy for his ignorance, though. No, in fact, she was merely thankful. That meant that he could still have some hope left for this world, despite having already seen the darkest parts it had to offer.

Luffy let Kay's words sink in. Was that how it was…? Good people turned… _bad_ because they wanted to do something nice but were then forced to do messed up stuff like the buster call by the stupid government?

_Then, did that mean his grandpa felt the same way? He was (well, arguably maybe…) a good man, but if what Kay was saying was true, did that mean he too really_ did _do things like this? Even if he didn't want to…?_

"I was like that in the beginning too…" Kay admitted, barely resisting the urge to shake her head from shame at the thought.

"You were?"

"Yes… I was a naïve young woman... a foolish girl who had just gotten her doctor's degree and decided I was gonna be a hero and accomplish great things. I joined the Marines' medical team, working hour upon hour every single goddamn day until I was about to collapse. Of course, I was fine with that at the time because I, at the extent of my own suffering, saved 10s or 100s of people's lives daily... Clearly, I must have been doing _something_ right, 'cause eventually, the higher-ups sent me to this garbage place…"

_Ah yes, that certainly was a day she would never forget. Being the only woman in the entire unit, a few smug and highly ill-mannered gentlemen had foolishly thought of her to be an amazing and 'fun' addition to the team._

_Let's just say… not even a week had passed, and those bastards had already learned to watch where they were staring and to also think very carefully before as much as uttering a single sound while she was anywhere within a 100 meters radius._

_She was no pushover. While she (duh) didn't have any battle experience, nobody would dare defy her and her fists of fury._

"That's wrong…" Came a sudden angered remark from a worried Luffy.

"What is?"

"That you're forced to do stuff you don't want to."

Kay nearly smirked at that.

'_And that's coming from you of all people…'_

Honestly, it both amazed and greatly worried Kay how considerate Luffy appeared to be towards everybody (well, everybody who was humane enough to be cared about anyway…) beside himself.

_She wasn't good with that kind of emotional crap, but even _she _knew that kind of thinking was harmful and very unhealthy…_

"It's very sweet of you to be concerned about me, but you really shouldn't feel bad. I'm really not as good of a person as you think… I've killed before you know - and not _just_, by order, letting people under my care die… besides, after everything I've gotten to see over the years, there's no way the government would just let me casually waltz away…"

She would have smiled to reassure him that she, despite that, would really be fine, but smiling really (like _**really**_) wasn't her thing, nor something she could _ever_ recall doing, so she decided against it.

"I don't care about what you've done. You're nice and don't deserve this." Luffy argued, now starting to raise his voice a bit from the incoming anger.

Kay felt her heart drop at that statement…

_No, it wasn't right for Luffy to say that…_

She had met stubborn people before… sadly, they always seemed to live shorter lives because they lacked the ability to give up and to realize the truth.

She sighed for the millionth time, knowing that trying to explain how stupidity and reckless feelings were what led to death would be an impossible task for a thick-headed idiot like Luffy.

_She had spent enough time here as it was… even if it saddened her to leave Luffy here on his own again, but she had other duties to attend to. _

Without any warning, the woman suddenly carelessly tossed the scattered medical supplies back into the bag (maybe it wasn't such a wonder why it was so unorganized after all…), got to her feet, and hurriedly trudged towards the still gaping open door.

"Wait!"

Luffy tried pushing himself to his feet to run after Kay, but he instead ended up falling flat on his stomach when he immediately lost his footing and his balance failed _him._

Fortunately for Luffy, Kay kindly listened to his cry, stopping just as she had placed her hand on the door handle and forced herself to stare back at Luffy - into those adorable, and yet pain-written eyes that made her heart sting.

"Y… you'll come back, right..?" Luffy literally _begged_ to know.

He hated being alone here. The only time anybody else spoke to him was to torment or question him. Not that he cared about that, but _these_ guys were the last ones he wanted to talk to.

Kay seemed to understand that fact very well… her heart throbbed painfully from guilt, and she felt a lump gather in her throat.

Of course she would come back… but truthfully, she wished she wouldn't have to… that she would never _ever_ have to see Luffy's face again if it meant he could be somewhere better - which, really, was _anywhere_ but here; in the filthy hands of a corrupted government that would not show even an ounce mercy, even to a child like Luffy.

"Don't worry kiddo, I'm not crazy enough to leave your well-being in the hands of those gorillas. I'll be back, promise."

'_Although I do truly feel sorry that _I'm_ really the best company you can get.' _

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

For the first time in days - well, weeks Luffy supposed from what he had heard - everything wasn't 100% insufferable.

Even if Kay didn't (and never will) admit it openly, the two grew closer to the extent of becoming (though maybe an odd pair) friends. Granted, her daily visits were really the only ok thing about staying on this horrible ship…

Kay always brushed away any agent - no matter how mean or high in their heels, they always cowered before her - who was in charge of guarding him so they could talk in private.

He was even in for a _great_ surprise when, one day, she spoke straight in freaking _pigeon-bastard's_ face in the exact same manner, earning nothing but an annoyed glare before he had left without a word.

_That had felt unexpectedly nice._

He still didn't eat though. Or sleep…

Unlike before, however, when Luffy had been petrified by his grief and as a result not eaten, he not always found himself caught up in other kinds of thoughts…

_Honestly, he had been thinking so much over the last few days he wondered if he was gonna start getting smarter or something... _

As unbelievably unbelievable as it might sound, he had just recently begun realizing just _how _much he truly hated - no _loathed_ \- these guys and just the world government in its entirety.

Normally, he'd never judge anybody group of people just by the few he'd just so happened to meet, but this time, Luffy had decided to make an exception. The government had ordered this, and these agents were mere soldiers listening to that order. They had no way to redeem themselves after this, though even _if_ they did, Luffy still wouldn't forgive them, he had decided.

Thinking back, Dadan had said something when that ordeal with Sabo had happened… that it was the world - the world itself which had killed him.

Back then, he had really just been too caught up in wailing and mourning his brother's death to even try and understand what that meant… unfortunately, he did now.

Also, the government was the one who dictated Kay's life.

Even if (as cruel as it _sounded_) Luffy truly was happy that she was there with him so that he at least wasn't completely alone.

She was really just like him. _Trapped_. Even if she wasn't behind bars or wearing shackles, she was basically a prisoner as well because she had no free will to do anything she truly desired.

That definitely got Luffy's blood boiling every time the thought crossed his mind, especially since she had told him not to worry about her life when he was so much worse off than her.

_That was a lie. _

That's why he began growling - one time even going as far as biting - at the unfortunate victims who were forced to enter his cell to bring him food.

After Luffy had managed to get a few lucky shots in (one time sending a total of 5 agents to the infirmary in just the span of 2 days) the agents had finally had enough and taken appropriate measures.

Instead of two meals a day, he was fed only once, and the food would just be placed (well, most of the time just carelessly dropped) onto the floor right outside the cell so Luffy would have to reach out through the bars to get something.

That had evoked a fun little game. Sometimes (more often than not), the guards would intentionally place it _just_ outside his reach, and then laugh while watching him struggle to reach, and then step on his broken fingers to try and get him to scream or cry.

_Kay had once walked in on them doing so… Luffy wasn't sure exactly what happened to the two perpetrators, but he, oddly enough, never ever saw them again…_

It was fine, though. Luffy didn't care about the abuse… he'd rather stay hungry than eat their stupid food anyway.

Luffy used Kay's visits as a way of keeping track of how many days passed. Every time she stopped by, however, she for some reason seemed more and more restless… more anxious or saddened, as if every day, something bad happened to her.

This, of course, made Luffy extra upset, but when he had asked her why, but she had merely stared at him with an "are-you-serious?" kinda look, as if the answer was obvious.

_He didn't understand, though... A_ week. _That's how much time had passed, and he still couldn't figure why._

(Yes. A week. That meant that only approximately 1 more week remained and they'd arrive at Enies Lobby. _The_ judicial island. A place where criminals either went to Marineford or Impel Down, the Head Quarters or greatest prison of the Marines. Kay didn't know which of the two Luffy was headed off to, and honestly, she didn't care either. Just that it would then truly be all over… that the tragedy she had imagined countless in her mind would finally become reality and Luffy's life would truly turn to hell...)

To Luffy, it was frustrating that he couldn't find the for his new friend's worry, but at the same time (strange as it was), kind of nice.

He needed to focus a lot to think this through, which meant the other memories were kindly shoved off to the back of his head, now only resurfacing whenever anybody stepped across the line with their mockery - mocking the deaths of people Luffy held very dear.

_That always caused another breakdown._

As much as Luffy simply wanted to get _mad_ \- to break free go and rip Lucci (well, he was the one to do this most commonly anyway, since he was the only one who had been there personally) to shreds for saying that about his friends, but the hellish memories always got the best of him first…

_He had since long ago told himself he would stop being a crybaby… that's what he always though whenever the tears would overflow, but it was to no avail. _

_The pain was too intense and the visions and sounds stuck in his head way to real, too loud, and too cruel to be stopped. _

The nightmares, as well, continued. Luffy couldn't recall a single night ever since it all happened where he wasn't scared...

It was weird… previously, he wasn't even in the slightest scared of the dark. The dark was just the dark after all. Sure, it was annoying that he couldn't see anything, but he never understood what other people found so scary about it.

_But now, Luffy hated it. The dark. The night. _

He _hated_ how the blackness would completely swallow him up and make him feel even weaker and more insignificant than when hurtful insults were spouted straight to his face...

He hated how it would turn completely silent around him - how only the sound of the soothing waves threatening to lull him to sleep remained, and he, despite his best efforts to stay awake, would _still_ fall asleep and relive that horror all over again.

Coincidentally, that's what he was currently busy trying to prevent.

The two guards (they had increased the number after Luffy's very sudden drastic mood change, just in case) had both long since fallen asleep and were now drooling and snoring away peacefully as if they weren't horrible monsters who Luffy personally hoped would get eaten by a sea king or snatched away by a bird or something in a near future.

Luffy was sitting in his corner, currently rubbing his arms as quietly as he could with the seastone handcuffs in an attempt at getting a little warmer...

It was really cold (like, so cold he could literally see his own breath kind of cold), and while a vest, straw sandals, and shorts were a perfect fit for a lukewarm island such as Dawn, it did very little right now to contain his body heat.

Apparently, the sudden drastic drop in temperature was because they had entered the Grand Line, and the weather here, he had heard, would change faster than Luffy could count. (O, that... admittedly, wasn't _that_ fast, but still…!)

Luffy had only heard stories - mostly from Shanks - about this place.

He had been _**so**_ excited to get to experience it for himself… to get to go to all kinds of crazy islands he even in his wildest imagination couldn't _dream_ of! To get to stand face to face with the dangers of the world and overcome them alongside the awesome crew he wanted to gather.

This… _**this**_ was not how he had wanted his first trip to the exciting Grand Line to be…

_Locked up_.

_Caged_.

_The very freedom he sought, stolen. _

What even was the point of traveling the sea in the first place if he couldn't do whatever he desired? If he couldn't even have an adventure…!?

Luffy sneezed, and instantly, all thoughts disappeared. It was too cold to think about that stuff right now...

"Stupid…-" Luffy paused mid his own sentence, unsure of where exactly to direct his anger.

"_Everything!" _

The comeback was lame, but fortunately, nobody who could make fun of him for that fact had heard it.

Except for the loud snores of the irresponsible guards (but Luffy had by now gotten so used to it that it was basically just some background noise which he currently chose to ignore), it was very quiet.

The silence was bad… it was making him very sleepy, and for some odd reason, he was really really drowsy (more than he would normally be) as well.

He didn't know what time it was (heck, just keeping tracks of the _days_ was a difficult task, so that was definitely out of the question), although he assumed it must be night from how quiet the rest of the ship around him was as well.

No footsteps or yelling from above... no sound of men running around and doing hard labor from the deck… just him, his own shivering breath, the snores of the unimportant agents, and the ocean.

Luffy fiddled a little, adjusting his sitting position so he could comfortably lean his head against the ship's outer wall.

_To no surprise, it was icy-cold and wet. _

Luffy didn't wanna pull away, though… his body was very heavy, making it a big pain to move even a single muscle.

He could take a little cold... even if freezing cold air was also seeping through the cracks in the boards and just further giving him shivers.

The ocean was calm, though. Luffy could clearly hear the stoic waves thump against the side of the ship… it was calming… probably the only thing aside from chatting it out with Kay that could get him to forget how stupidly awful things really were…

…

…

_***BAM!***_

A second later - before Luffy's brain even had a chance to process anything - the ship suddenly began tilting _strongly_ to the right. The force was more than enough to send Luffy tumbling across the floor and, with a loud thump, collide with the opposing wall.

It was in moments such as these where Luffy was thankful for his rubber body. He still felt pain - generally from his scar on his stomach - but it wasn't as bad as it would have been otherwise.

The completely unprepared agents, however, weren't let off as easy.. they were abruptly awoken from their peaceful sleep as their bodies were literally _flung_ across the room and their heads smashed against the hard wooden wall...

_Yeeeaaahhh…..they would definitely be able to feel _that _in the morning_. _Bastards deserved it though..._

"_GHA!_ W-what'n hell's going on!?"

In any other situation, Luffy would have silently snickered to himself after hearing that level of distress and panic in _his_ voice, but the question was actually not a stupid one. Luffy had no clue either.

It took another few seconds before the ship straightened, unfortunately resulting in Luffy and the other two agents (thanks a lot gravity) taking another tumble across the floor.

That made Luffy dizzy. Ignoring the sudden throbbing sensation that was now pounding throughout his entire sore body, Luffy pushed himself up into a sitting position with wobbly arms, but immediately case to regret that decision as another wave of nausea hit him.

He shrugged the stupid feeling off, though. It was nothing he couldn't handle, and a little sickness was far from his biggest concerns right now…

"Ugh… you alright?"

Unfortunately, the torches hanging on the walls had gone out during the sharp turn, leaving the prison in complete darkness. With his sight removed, Luffy was almost fooled to believe that the agent was actually talking to _him_.

"I think so… damn, couldn't they at least warn us before they pull something like that? My neck's all sore now!" Voice A complained.

_He should have known. No way were they concerned about him_.

"Tell me about it. We were a little lucky, though... could've broken our freaking necks or something…" Responded voice B.

The two agents were talking as if Luffy wasn't there. They didn't care if he was alright after that… they knew he was probably still alive, and as long as that was the case, Kay could always patch him back up.

_No, their own misery came first. _

Luffy ignored the two selfish men's' pointless complaints to listen more closely around them… he had heard a bang earlier… much like… like the sound of a _cannon_ firing.

_Something was up..._

Honestly, Luffy had gotten far _far _too familiar with that sound… after all, it resonated loudly in his head every damn _night_, nearly giving him heart attacks and always being the very thing to awake him from his nightmares.

That sound was too mortifying to just _forget_ so then… _why_ now?

He _must_ have been mistaken... There was just _no way._..

_***BAM!***_

...

_Or… maybe… there __**was.**_

The two unprepared slackers jumped from surprise, having definitely not expected _that_.

"A-an explosion!?"

"Just what's going on!?" They cried.

That Luffy would very much like to know too.

_His heart was pounding… faster and faster and faster, loud and unstoppable. His breath became unstable, his hands began to tremble, and his mind already clogging with dread._

_Why...?_

_***BAM!***_

_Another one_. _Another explosion._

Luffy desperately slapped his hands over his ears, trying to block out the sound.

_Of course it didn't work. He'd tried it many many _**many** _times before. But apparently, an explosion wasn't just some sound that could easily be ignored. _

_Usually, however, the sound was just in his head… this… this was… this was real…! _Real _cannons. Just like the ones that had been used back then._

No. **No**. How? Why? **WHY!?** Not now. Not again. He couldn't. It was too painful. It hurt. It felt like a thousand knives were stabbing his heart and his ears were gonna explode. It needed to stop. It couldn't be like this. It couldn't possibly-

_Luffy was fortunate enough to have his thoughts interrupted when a door in the distance suddenly slammed open with such force it nearly flew off its hinges. _

Once again, the cowardly agents cried from shock, but for Luffy, it had been just what he needed to (even if just for a moment) snap out of his panic attack.

There were footsteps. Somebody - a person who was definitely in a rush considering how fast their pace was - was coming. Somebody who could hopefully tell about what the hell was going on.

"You two! What on this godforsaken earth are you still doing slacking off here!? Get your asses onto the deck right now! _The ship's under attack dammit_!"

The angered voice was delightfully familiar… so delightful, in fact, that Luffy could have cried just from pure relief.

* * *

**Don't know if this chapter was worth the long waiting time or not, but hey, I began having fun writing it after getting over the frustration of deleting my original 6K word chapter, sooooooo...**

**To anybody who can't stand OCs and can't stand the idea of Kay, please know that I only made her up so poor little Luffy's heart won't remain shattered into a million pieces, and so he is not completely alone _(at least not yet)_ ok!? I repeat what I've said earlier, you do** **not**** in any way shape or form need to care even in the slightest about any of the OCs. (Yes, sadly there will be more, but I will do my _absolute_ best to not overuse it) **

**If the OCs make my story insufferable, just feel free to skip past Luffy's entire journey and just come back when we've reached the good stuff, or just simply don't read my story anymore if you've completely lost interest. **

**Well, here (as promised) replies to _every single_ review I have not yet responded to: **

** 123 (Dec 31): Thanks so much for leaving not 1 but _2_ reviews! Yes, as you can see now, poor Luffy does not cope well with everything that has happened. Also, an interesting suggestion about the timeline. I did, in fact, not think of that, so I, as the author who holds all power over this Onefic, hereby declare it to be true!**

**PirateYonko: (Here's my litteral reaction to your review)**

**Me: Opens up reviews. **

**_Read_s.**

**Also me: *Laughs out loud* "Yep!"**

**Greer123: Hey! I recognize you from earlier! Thanks so much for the second and third reviews! I promise to fulfill your wish of seeing Luffy finally escaping in the very next chapter, so just sit tight a little longer! And indeed. Lucci is a smart man, so he's realized what powers are at work here. And yeeaaahh... like I wrote in the chapter, a litteral war could actually break out, don't you think so too? **

**Sophia Mendes-Coruja: Sophia, can I just stop for a moment to tell you how much I appreciate your support? Seriously, thank you so so so much! I read your message just before going to the hospital, and it definitely brightened my week! Also, you're amazing for reviewing so much and thank you, thank you,_ thank you_, for the sweet things you always have to say! Also, happy to find another person who shares my interest in an AU where the government discovers Luffy's heritage much earlier :D**

**Sugakookiess: Ajojaosdjfoiasjdfoiajsdofajsoi! GHA! I FULLY 100% AGREE! I CANNOT WITH LUFFY/ACE CENTRICS EITHER, THEY'RE JUST THE MOST ADORABLE! (Or you know, in some cases heart-crushing...) And yes, strangely, I have discovered I have a knack for writing angsty things so... I don't know what that's about XD. And here's the update! I promise to remain focused and keep doing my best!**

**Guest 1 (Jan 6): Thank you. Trust me, you should be, 'cause it'll only get wilder and more exciting from here on out!**

**Leska: I knoooooooowwww, aren't I just horrible? But don't you worry, I will keep going! And yea, the lengths of the chapters are already quite vague (the shortest is 4K and the longest over 10K), but there will probably be a lot more semi-long chapters than long ones to be expected in the future. **

**Guest 2 (Jan 7): *Blushes like crazy.* I-I'm happy that my language is acceptable. I'm still evolving and getting better though, b-but t-thanks a lot for the compliment. (Oh, and me too. #AceandLuffyfanficsforlife)**

**Guest 3: (Jan 10): In China!? Wow, happy to see that my fanfic is reaching so far! And thank you for your compliment. I do promise this story will get much much longer, and hopefully, I'll someday be able to finish it.**

**Push23: Yes. They are savage indeed. Just you wait, I have some very pleasant (and shocking too I guess) surprises in store for this story.**

**And those are the amazing reviews! Shout of to all you amazing peeps who take time off your hands to leave reviews! **

**Is that all for now? I think so at least... hmmmmmmmmmmmmm **

**Ah well! New chappie can be expected within a few days of waiting time (for sure!)**

_**-Cookie**_


	7. Escape!

**Me: *Sweats very nervously***

**W-why hello there. I promise there is an explanation as to why it's taken this long for an update at the bottom ok? A have a rule to not blabber on for too long up here since I know you guys just want to get to read the chapter already, so all you need to know is that I in my defense can say this chapter is the longest to date with over 11K words!**

_**Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :) **_

**So here, I won't hold you back, go right ahead and read this thing! **

* * *

**Chapter 7: Escape!**

"U… u-under _attack_!?"

"B-b-but this is a government ship, isn't it!? Who in their right mind would be stupid enough to attack us!?"

The faces of the two dastardly cowards lost all color.

_The agents were absolutely horror-struck. Who? Who!? WHO COULD POSSIBLY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!? _

_Had their fears become reality? Had info about Luffy's capture somehow been leaked, and now somebody had actually come here to rescue him!?_

_It that was so, then they were __**screwed**__, no matter who that might be! The revolutionary army… Red-haired Shanks… Whitebeard… really, it was just a matter of choosing who you wanted to be killed by._

Kay, however, was having none of their childish whining. Her mood was already considerably bad, so really, it was their fault for not cooperating.

_This was the moment where Kay proved that despite how she looked (she was really nothing outstanding… just a basic scrawny thin lady) no one should ever underestimate her. _

Before either of the two dunces even had time to realize what was going on, Kay had suddenly stomped her way over to them, grabbed and twisted their collars, and was pushing them against the wall with such force breathing suddenly became very difficult.

She locked her gaze with the two men's whimpering eyes, sending them a look of utter fury that burned into their _souls_. _A demon. That right there was the look of a demon._

"Quit your wailing! If you don't wanna fight and are just gonna hide in here like the witless babies that you are, I swear to Oda I'll _give _you a damn reason to fight!"

_The message was so __**painfully**_ _clear not even a second of hesitation was needed to weigh their options after that. _

"Y-YES MA'AM!" They correspond, despite being strangled and barely had the air left to talk.

Kay immediately let go, causing them to pathetically drop to the floor, gasping for air. Surprisingly, however, they needed only 3 mere seconds to recover, and then instantly began crawling away without wasting any time getting up, as if their lives depended on it, which honestly, it might as well have.

_Last time Luffy had seen anybody run away that fast (well crawl away he supposed…?) was back when Garp would chase him and Ace (and Sabo for a short period too, of course) until their tiny hearts were about to burst and their legs would be sore for the next week to come. _

Of well, those guys could go die for all he cared…

"Kay!"

Luffy was happy - _truly_ relieved to see her again. _Really_, he _really_ was. But his voice was still broken - still filled with dread thanks to the earlier shock he had received and had yet to calm himself after.

Kay felt a lump form in her throat because of that. She always found herself to feel that way when something horrible would happen or be said so Luffy's suffering increased.

Hurriedly, she walked over and swiftly unlocked and opened the cell (as swift as one can be when opening an old creaking door, of course) squatting down right beside the small child.

The moonlight seeping in through the open door was currently their only source of light. Although her sight was very limited, she was now sitting much closer to Luffy, and it became very apparent to her that the poor boy was a mess again.

Small droplets of tears shined in the corners of his weary eyes, strongly suggesting he had indeed been crying recently. In the silence, Luffy's quick and unsteady breath was also very obvious. _His heart was pounding, she concluded from this_.

She could _see _him trembling… and unfortunately, she had a knack feeling it wasn't just because it was so freakishly cold (she herself was now wearing a coat but still getting chilled to the bone).

_Obviously, he was scared. Terrified, in fact. And sadly, that just made way too much sense considering the circumstances._

God, no matter how many times she saw it, the sight of a miserable child was never ever pleasant. She got a sudden urge to embrace the boy, but immediately brushed the feeling aside, as it more likely than not would leave them both in a _veeeeeery _awkward situation. Plus, she didn't do hugs. And that was that.

From the door (basically all around them since noise travels through walls too), loud yells and swears and the tramping of a large group of people rushing around on deck sounded… loud booms of cannons being loaded and fired off as well.

"Kay? W-what exactly is going? Why… w-why are there explosions..?"

Luffy looked up at Kay with _those_ eyes - the eyes of a scared child looking for reassurance… a child who deep down knew the undeniable truth, but needed an adult to fully crush their heart before they would start crying.

Kay's heart dropped.

_It's gonna be fine_… _nothing bad is gonna happen_. That's what she wanted to say. But the truth was that it wasn't. It would, in fact, not _just _be ok.

She looked away, avoiding Luffy's hurtful gaze.

This made Luffy very unnerved. He stared back at her with a nervous look of anticipation, feeling his worry grow.

This was wrong… Kay never failed to answer his questions. Sure, her answers were maybe a bit confusing or harsh at times, but at least she'd always say _something_.

"Kay…?" He asked hesitantly.

This time he got a response. A _deep_ very drawn-out breath. It was much unlike how she'd usually sigh, just let out a just bit of the frustration or stress she was subjugating. She was… preparing herself to say something.

"Listen, Luffy, I… what I'm gonna tell you is gonna sound a little crazy, but just try to follow along, ok?"

Luffy blinked once in confusion. No. Nothing was making sense right now. The ship was under attack? Was that what she had said earlier? Why? And by who? And what did it matter?... When… when would it stop again?

_He wasn't quite sure how much more his brain could process right now thanks to his internal struggle of keeping the hurting flashes away, but even so, he still nodded, determined to at least try to understand._

"Alright… as I yelled in the faces of the blockheads earlier, the ship's being attacked. By _pirates_… but that's… in all actuality, _not_ a bad thing..."

Luffy's brows furrowed. Well, sure, this wasn't the worst thing that could ever happen… if they were lucky, chances were said pirates might give the agents some well-deserved ass-kicking, but aside from that, what could she possibly be…?-

"Admittedly, they're no one stupidly infamous… probably just a bunch of overconfident simpletons who've had a recent stroke of good look and have gotten it into their thick skulls that they're invincible. It won't take long before the battle that you hear now will be dragged onto the deck of this ship, and once that happens, things'll turn real shitty real fast…"

Kay bit her lip.

"Thanks to your influence, (at least that's what she'd heard, although she didn't know the full story and didn't really believe it either) we've already lost 2/3rds of our troops… a battle _now_ would surely take the full attention of all agents, which means they'll be too distracted to keep an eye on you…"

_No_.

Even if she was a cold, short-tempered and ill-mannered woman who coincidentally was also no stranger to make tough choices, how could she possibly make Luffy go through with her current idea?

He was just a _kid_ dammit! He was already suffering enough as it was. She would also gladly bet even her right arm and leg that the only reason he was still somewhat coherent and had not already completely given up was thanks to her influence and presence.

_No that was just freakishly depressing… she wasn't exactly a prime figure one should come to guidance for or look up to as a role model... _

Luffy was in no condition to do anything right now… his body and mind were both exhausted, and she knew, _knew_ that things would only get better in the long run…

_But_ **nearly** _anything she'd take over this. _

Suddenly, she reached inside the woolen pocket in her thick winter coat, pulling out a small familiar object which glinted in the moonlight seeping in.

"What is that?" Luffy asked, just straight-up confused as to what Kay was trying to tell him.

"It's a key, Luffy. The key to those seastone handcuffs you're wearing. This is your chance… while those oblivious fools are all gonna be busy fighting it out, _you_, are gonna escape. Onto the pirates' ship..."

Luffy's eyes widened as realization poured over him.

_Hold on, what now? Escape..?_

"I know I know. I _know_ it sounds crazy. Trust me, if there was another safer way than sneaking straight through a freaking battlefield and onto a ship filled with damned pirates, I swear to Oda that's the way I'd force you to take instead."

"..."

That was it. A dread-filled silence was all the answer she received.

_That was not right._

Kay understood that Luffy was probably scared. She understood and fully respected that fact. Heck, just the fact that he was still alive proved he was a whole lot more tenacious than any brat she'd ever met before. She wasn't one to blame a kid like him for being scared.

It was crazy, she knew. She'd seen and _felt_ the cruelty of the world - even without the influence of the World Government - and knew to escape to such a place might just feel just as hellish (if not worse) than staying confined in a cell.

At least here slave traders, thugs, kidnappers, weren't a constant threat you'd need to be ready to defend yourself against, which was probably _the_ one and _the_ only benefit about staying here.

But still, this silence was very unsettling, considering how loud Luffy had proved himself to be when something upset him.

"Luffy…?"

_Now it was her turn to weakly utter _his _name. _

"Escape…?"

Luffy's voice was dead. Empty as if the word held absolutely no meaning to him. Kay couldn't recall ever hearing him sound like that. And she didn't like it. It so didn't fit him.

"How!? Even if I run away now, I have nowhere to go! Don't you know they burnt down everything...!? The treehouse…! Foshia village…! mount Corvo…! Gray terminal…! High town..! It's all gone! _GONE!_" Luffy cried.

Kay could only stare with hurt in her eyes, not knowing what to say. Even if she _knew_ Luffy did, in fact, know (and since long ago had sadly realized) the full extent of the tragic events that had transpired, hearing him say it out loud was… just straight-up torture.

She wanted to tell him sorry _(really, she did)_ since she was technically on the side of the unforgivable villains that had stolen everything from him, but she doubted that would change anything right now.

Luffy apparently seemed to realize Kay seemed clueless as to what to say.

_Well, if she wasn't gonna say something, he sure as hell would._

"Where am I supposed to go!? If… if I leave then… then I-I'll be… I'll be completely _**alone**_ again! _Being alone is worse than getting hurt_!"

_That _particular comment seemed to trigger something inside Kay's head.

"_No_..." She muttered, just loud enough for Luffy to hear. And that did _not_ sit straight with Luffy.

"_No_!? What's that supposed to mean!? Are you saying there's something that's _worse_ than _**that**_!? E-even worse than being weak and not being able to save anybody!? Worse than watching everything just disappear like that!? TO HAVE EVERYONE KILLED JUST BECAUSE I-"

"_**Luffy**_**." **

_Kay's voice was stern. Strict. Telling him to shut up and listen. _

"I might not know all the details surrounding your history but… I know for a fact that you're not alone. "Fire fist" Ace. He's your brother, isn't he? And he's still very much alive and roaming the seas."

_Luffy felt his heart skip a beat. _

_A...A-A-ce…? _

_Thanks to the explosions (which as a chain reaction had triggered a stupid inescapable flashback) from earlier, he had - and he fell stupid and guilty and even dumber than usual because of this - completely forgotten about Ace. _

_During the past week, he had been solely fixated on ensuring his brother would not become a target for elimination. Not once. Not __**once**_ _had the thought that he could even get to_ see _Ace again crossed his mind. _

The tears quickly overflowed, warming up Luffy's red icy-cold cheeks as they poured down his face and dripped onto the floor, creating a small puddle.

_Ace. __**Ace.**_ _When Luffy thought of the name, it seemed more like it belonged to a stranger than to his brother. Even though everybody... although _everything _else he treasured and held very dear was now long since gone, Ace wasn't. Ace was alive. And now, he had the chance to see him. _

_And Luffy wanted to. He truly really really really wanted to right in that exact moment._

"Y… y-you're right… I.. I still have _Ace_!" Luffy wailed, his crying only intensifying by the second.

Kay could have smiled from relief at the sight of the weeping child. She didn't want him to stop crying like this. His tears were no longer from the agony of losing or from his unchangeable weakness…

The tears flowing stronger than waterfalls were purely from realization. Because Luffy truly did not like being alone, it was like a stab of joy to know that he wasn't. And that was only a good thing…

It might seem like a silly thought, but this would be his first step in moving on. Although the number of tears and snot was a little overkill, maybe…

She thanked the many gods from above that the fierce (at least she supposed it was) battle from outside was blocking out the sound of Luffy's cries. Although Luffy was being loud, she still doubted anyone would hear.

'_It's alright kiddo. Just let it _all _out…'_ She thought calmingly as if he could actually hear her.

"I… I want to see him…! I want to go right now!" Luffy _begged_, attempting to wipe away his tears. The task, however, proved impossible.

When Luffy looked straight up into Kay's face with a sudden newfound non-broken pleading look, tears were still overflowing, although now, not as violently as before.

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

Kay had suddenly found herself petting his hair to comfort the small boy. It had been weird but seemed to have helped with calming him down faster. After the crying was finally over, though, Kay had been very quick to unlock Luffy's shackles.

Honestly, it that been a massive relief on both of their behalfs.

You could literally _see _as the color and strength immediately return to Luffy's small figure, making him look way less like an empty shell of misery and sorrow, and much more like an actual child… a… ruffled up one admittedly.. and one who certainly looked like he hadn't slept for eaten for weeks, but it was certainly an improvement, they could both agree without words.

Luffy also felt way better. Like… like something huge that had been pushing down for last long time had finally gotten lighter. He didn't really understand that feeling, but still, he suspected it wasn't _just_ thanks to the stupid handcuffs finally being gone.

Luffy swore to himself right then and there that he never _ever_ wanted to wear those cuffs _ever_ again.

And _then_ the challenge of getting up had come. Luffy's legs had been very wobbly and had ached harder than he could ever recall. His head had been spinning like crazy, and his vision had nearly turned black.

It had been surprisingly difficult to move, even ever so slightly, after the past two weeks. Nevertheless, that was over now, and the two didn't want to waste any more time just standing around any longer.

"..."

'_Will this really be alright..?' _Kay thought to herself, just now getting second thoughts.

She and Luffy were standing in the doorway leading out of the prison hall (thank Oda the door was hidden away off to the side and not directly onto the main deck), in what - at least it did to _her_ \- felt like a very awkward silence.

The cries and violent shrieks of the battle had gotten much clearer and louder now, and it was very apparent that a very big group of noisy and annoying people were quickly approaching, thanks to the increase in voices yelling and swearing curses at each other.

Luffy, however, didn't seem bothered by this fact. Kay found it amazing (or worrying perhaps…?) how he didn't react even in the slightest when he moments ago had nearly lost his mind over just hearing cannon fire…

Actually, he seemed to unbothered he had barely moved at all since they had taken a single step outside.

Instead of panicking like Kay had thought he would, Luffy stared up at the sky.

It was greyish, and honestly, just a very depressing sight, but Luffy seemed obsessed with simple glaring with wide unblinking eyes.

Kay really didn't understand why that was but had already given up trying to anyway.

Luffy could do or say the most unpredictable things at times, and strangely enough, Kay had learned that 90% of the times, the reasons behind _why_ he did as he did were stupidly childish or too confusing for her unimaginative mind to understand.

A nice thick layer of snow was coating _everything_, and thousands - no - millions if not _billions_ of snowflakes were still drizzling down.

Honestly, Kay found it amazing just _how _many factors were in Luffy's favor right now. Escape very well might be possible.

_That_ she was truly starting to believe… it was no longer just hope or an action she took thanks to desperation.

Small lumps of snow had already started piling up on Luffy's unmoving body. He had pulled his straw hat (honestly it was too big, but it had just made him look adorable, so she hadn't complained) onto his head in an attempt to keep his ears a little warmer.

While it did manage to keep away the snow, Kay knew that would only mean his hair and hat would be drenched once that mound of frozen water would melt.

Although he tried to not let this fact bother him, Kay could _hear_ his teeth clack and _see_ how his body was shivering... his cheeks and nose were even redder than her own, and he was clearly suffering from the cold.

It was pathetic really. Luffy was supposed to escape, but at this rate, he would get frostbite before _that_ could happen...

_A sudden idea, however, struck her as to how such a scenario could hopefully be avoided._

Luffy didn't notice what she was doing. As painfully cold as it was, he felt… just… _something_ now that he was finally outside again.

Maybe it was the _smell_ of the salty waters, or just how, when he looked around and saw the vast dark ocean instead of a dark small nasty room that made him (quite literally) freeze like this.

Luffy had to wonder if Sabo had felt the same back then. He didn't know the full story… just from little things he had personally told him, that Sabo was very unhappy where he had been before meeting him and Ace.

He said he didn't have any freedom at his home. That fact had made Luffy very very unhappy because losing your freedom - he now knew better than ever - was one of the worst things besides being alone.

_Luffy had always understood that it was better to die fighting at sea than while being trapped. This, however, was the first time ever he really got to embody that feeling, the first time he -_

"..."

"What are you doing?"

"Stand still."

Luffy barely had time to realize what was happening, much less complain or fight back.

Kay, satisfied, took a step back as if admiring her own work.

_Ah yes, much much better. _

Luffy was now properly tucked into her woolen, nice and big, comfortable, and (most importantly) _warm_ jacket.

It was so long it would be an understatement to even compare it to a dress. The wool-coated bottom was hovering just half an inch above the ground, and that was only thanks to his straw sandals making him just a tini-tiny bit taller.

_Well, that was fine. That meant his feet would be kept warm as well. _

The sleeves were too long too, but luckily, the tips of his fingers still peeked through the holes, so Kay counted that as good enough.

Also, the hood would have totally covered Luffy's entire face if not for Luffy's straw hat keeping out of his eyes.

He was like a little boy wearing his parents' clothes. The only bad thing about this, really, was that she was now the one to shiver - the one clutching her arms in an attempt to get warmer.

_All in all, he was (even _she _was willing to admit it) adorable in the oversized clothes, even if moving around in them might prove a little challenging._

"Kay you're freezing!" Luffy exclaimed as if it wasn't obvious enough. He immediately began struggling with taking off the big winter jacket, but he was stopped as Kay raised her hand in protest.

"I-it's fine. I can always j-just snatch another one."

She hadn't wanted to bring an extra coat with her in the first place. It would've undoubted raised questions, and while she could always brush off such questions, it could have led to unneeded caution on the agent's part in case something was up. (Which - blame on them - there was)

A sudden _loud_ battlecry from beyond the wall they hid behind suddenly diverted their attention. This was it. It was time.

The pirates had finally come aboard, ready (and hopefully just as eager to retreat once they realized they couldn't win) to fight, and oblivious to the small passenger they were about to get.

Kay honestly thought it was stupid herself. Stupid how she was basically gambling with Luffy's life. So so many things could go wrong she couldn't even with her current knowledge think of all the possibilities…

Luffy would have to sneak onto a ship _filled _with pirates that totally outsized and outnumbered him, in hopes that he could hide without being spotted by any of them until they reached land somewhere…

But, of course, there was also the possibility that it wouldn't even get to _that_.

It really all came down to whether or not those pirates could even get away after this attack… their chances were slim, but… she would just have to _believe_! (As stupidly idiotic as that sounded).

"That's your cue I guess…" She mumbled.

Luffy nodded seriously, understanding fully how important this was.

If he failed, Kay would have gone through all that trouble for nothing… and he wouldn't get to see Ace. He would be killed, or worse, thrown back into that cell. Luffy was determined that he would, in fact, rather die than being thrown back into that horrible cage again.

"So… that means this is goodbye, then, huh?"

To her surprise, Luffy _shook_ his freakin head, speaking before her bewilderment could show.

"I don't like saying goodbye… there's no reason to when we're just splitting. Goodbyes are would be like saying I'd never get to see you again, and I like you, so I don't like that!" Luffy reasoned with a frown.

Kay couldn't help but let her brows furrow into an expression of surprise. Since when had Luffy begun being half-smart like this?

He was only, half-smart, though, because he was wrong.

Really, she prayed to Oda that they would never _ever_ see each other again. Luffy needed to be with his brother. Needed to be somewhere he would be safe. Being with her meant Cp9 was right there as well.

She forced a hoarse chuckle to escape her lips.

"Alright then. No damned goodbye. But… I don't want you to ever come back here for any reason, _got that_?" She threatened.

Luffy nodded to this. Of course, he didn't even need Kay to tell him that, stupid as he was.

_And that's when… __**it **__happened. _

Kay had honestly thought it to be inconceivable… she… she hadn't even considered this to be a possibility, even after the many hours she had somehow spent with Luffy during the last couple of weeks…

_A smile. _

Luffy - as in, the same kid who now would forever be scarred both with the ugly unerasable mark on his chest and mentally thanks to the trauma he had experienced. The boy who had literally been _balling his eyes_ out every godforsaken day and night - who had almost lost all grip of reality and nightmare- _**smiled**_.

And it wasn't just some weak barely-even-a-smile-anyway kinda smile. _No_. It was wide… wide and bright and heartwarming and just _so_ much more fitting on Luffy's face, as if had he been born with it.

Just the pure _shock_ of seeing something so adorable - _so damn __**right**_ \- on a child like _Luffy's_ face caused her body to freeze.

_Honestly, it was the most _beautiful _thing Kay had seen for years…_

"Thanks so much, Kay! I _swear_ I'll never forget how much you helped me." Luffy exclaimed in an unbelievably _cheery_, child-like voice - in a tone totally unlike how she was used to Luffy's saddened voice sounded, his magical smile not fading in the slightest either.

_Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. J-just what kind of miracle was she witnessing here!? _

Luffy found himself to be very confused. Kay send him a look of befuddlement, worry, and awe, but she didn't say anything.

Seconds - a minute perhaps - passed like this, and Luffy decided it was probably nothing important if she didn't want to say.

Luffy turned around, taking a few steps in the direction of the loud battle. Although he was directionally challenged, and kinda dumb, it was obvious even to him the battle must be where the people and the other ships must've been...

_There was that saying talking about how no words were needed for men's departure… but wait, Kay wasn't a man so did that mean he did have to say something?_

"Wait Luffy!" Kay suddenly cried, causing Luffy to stop his wandering and wondering.

"What's wrong?" He asked all innocently.

_A good question. (-Well, a lot of things were obviously wrong, of course, but nothing new that Luffy didn't already know of). _

_Kay didn't exactly know why she had called out like this… was it because of worry? Was there one incredibly determining factor that made this impossible after all she had forgotten about? _

"..."

"Please… just… stay safe. And... smile some more." She found herself saying, despite wanting to say more.

_-Yes, and don't get into fights that could potentially worsen your injuries, don't trust any stranger, no matter how politely they treat you or nice they are, and for the love of Oda, do __**not**_ _stop moving, no matter how much more crap you'll have to go through to reach your brother - oh, and do be sure to still eat and sleep when possible, ok?_

Kay's comment, however, merely made Luffy giggle, 'cause that was a promise he certainly could fulfill!

"Of course!" He agreed enthusiastically.

And with those words, Luffy sent Kay a small wave and a reassuring smile, to which Kay awkwardly waved back.

In the span of 3 seconds (yes, Kay did in fact count) he disappeared around the wall, out of Kay's life, and hopefully _forever_.

Her uplifted hand fell sluggishly along her side. Whatever kind of relief or sense of having done a good deed she had felt was instantly washed away now that she stood there, freezing her ass off all alone on the empty deck with the loud roars of a battle Luffy was now headed straight for.

'_No.'_

She shook her head.

She had to trust to Luffy could somehow do this. His journey was just about to begin… a long pain-filled journey with lots of frustration, hardship, and sorrow … no, actually, it already _had_ begun, starting with the task of sneaking onto the pirates' ship.

_Kay, however, knew she was just about done… that very likely, it was not Luffy's, but her journey that would come to an end with this next step._

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

Freaky. That was the only word Luffy knew that could properly describe the current situation. He had only needed to oh so very carefully peek his head around the corner and take a single glance at the battle unfolding before him to have come to that conclusion.

The amount of people on the deck of the marine ship were uncountable, but even so, it was clear (yes, even to Luffy) that the bad guys (aka CP bastards) were outnumbered and fighting a desperate battle.

The shooting had stopped. There was simply no point now that the pirate ship was moored together with their boat, and any damage done to it could damage the government's vessel as well.

Honestly, just the sheer _size_ of that thing had completely surprised Luffy. It was far bigger than Shanks's ship, that was for sure, and it also towered slightly above the already massive marine battleship. A freaking _pirate_ boat meant for a crew of pirates. Not an army.

Oh well, hopefully, that meant sneaking around would be easier… as long as he wouldn't get lost or something...

Speaking of the matter, Luffy was indeed doing just that right now. Somebody (bless the idiot who had thought it to be a good idea) had placed barrels, crates, and massive piles of rope in one big row along the ship's outer walls.

Of course, Luffy hadn't missed out on this golden opportunity and had immediately leaped over (miraculously without being discovered) and had squeezed himself in between for cover.

_Yeeeaaahhhh…. there it was not a whole lot of space he had to work with. But, for a small boy - one made of rubber nonetheless - it was manageable at least, even_ _if his straw hat and shoulders were getting a little squished._

So here he was, crawling one careful crawl at a time, slowed down by the oversized jacket and the snow which made it tougher to move. Even Kay's coat did well to keep his ears, fingers, and toes warm, it was annoying how it got in the way.

Luffy couldn't see anything as of right now. It _was_ a blessing too, though mostly a curse.

"Die you pieces of pirate trash!"

"As if I'd ever listen to somebody from the Government! Bring in on, scum!"

_There was the sound of something sharp- a sword Luffy assumed - slashing through flesh and a loud scream of pain. A loud thump.. a cocky snicker. Next was a small weak utter for mercy, followed shortly by another stabbing noise and then… silence. _

_Luffy had no clue as to who had just won that fight, but he had a pretty good idea as to what happened to the loser._

Curses, swears, screams, cries, blood splattering, flesh getting cut, commands to attack, roars, the sound of a group running through the crackling snow, gunshots, more screams, more swears, more loud thumps indicating another fallen man...

Luffy wanted to cover his ears to block out the stupidly loud noises, but he couldn't because of the confined space. So instead, he tried to ignore it.

'_Calm down Luffy… these guys all deserve what they're getting. J-just because t-they're getting k-killed, d-doesn't mean you have to think about… it…' _

Luffy words, however, no matter how true, only barely managed to keep the tears at bay. He could feel his body trembling underneath the weight of the heavy coat, feel his feet and arms go numb, refusing to carry to on.

_No! He had to stay focused. He couldn't stop. He had to go. He needed to find Ace, and to do that, he needed to get out of there and not let himself be overwhelmed by something like this._

Luffy would have shaken his head if possible, but instead kept his eyes locked on the ground, determined to keep crawling. He, however, didn't get as much as move a single inch.

A few of the barrels in front of him suddenly splintered with a loud crash, wood, nails, snow, and alcohol flying straight in his face. (This was how Luffy concluded the liquor was indeed Sake, thanks to the horrible taste). It drenching him, but luckily, caused no pain or harm.

Luffy panicked.

_Crap! Had somebody seen him!? _

…

_No, that wasn't it._

It quickly became apparent to Luffy what had happened. Before him laid the surprisingly big chubby body of a fat pirate (Luffy concluded this thanks to his unshaved sunglass-free ugly face) who had _somehow_ flown into the barrel.

_Oh oh, this was bad._

The man was not unconscious yet, although, he was bleeding slightly…

As soon as he seemed to regain a few of his senses, he was staring right at Luffy with big confused eyes.

Luffy stared back with just as wide fear-written eyes, desperately wanting to retreat backward. Problem was the coat. He couldn't. Not in time.

"What the (insert swear word a pirate such as him would use)... a… brat? What's a brat doing-"

_***BAM***_

_The pirate was cut short when a sudden unexpected bullet came flying out of nowhere, aimed right at his head and penetrating his skull, instantly killing him._

Luffy's eyes widened further, this time from shock and terror. He dug his teeth into his lip to prevent himself from screaming, shut his eyes closed as to _not see a damn thing_, but it was as if his eyelids had suddenly become see-through.

The battlefield grew quiet for a few drawn-out seconds before suddenly, roars and screams louder than before exploded.

"YOU ASSHOLES! HOW DARE YOU KILL GARRY!"

"YOU _MONSTERS!_"

"GET THEM, YOU GUYS! SHOW NO MERCY TO THE GOVERNMENT!"

_A loud roar followed those insults, and the sound more intense fighting followed _that_. The pirates sounded pissed. Who knows, maybe Garry was - well, had been - a nice guy. _

Luffy sat unmoving behind his little cover, feeling his heartbeat increase the longer he stared at the corpse before him.

'_N-no. C-calm down, calm down, calm d-down, Luffy. H-he's not Makino. H-he's not M-Makin-no… h-he's… n-not h-her...' _

_It was to no avail though. A flash came. A sound resonated. _The _sound. _The _flash. One that Luffy had already had replaying in his mind countless times, only to get more and more painful for each and every damn time it would._

_Makino. __**Dead**_. _Makino. _Makino_. __**Being shot**_. _Makino as she was simply protecting Dadan. __**And as she was killed for doing so.**_

_Blood trickled from his lips as Luffy once again bit through. Poor lips… how many times had Luffy bitten through and bled like this? He'd lost count at this point, and Kay had warned him they would start swelling if he continued like that. _

_Luffy mentally shook his head, suddenly _slamming _his fist into the ground, feeling - though choosing to ignore - the severe pain rush through his broken fingers, into his hand, up to his arm, nearly numbing it. _

_This action was so loud that had it not been for the snow damping the sound, _that _would have given him away. _

_**No**__._

All of a sudden, Luffy thrust his head into the snow. It was icy cold, though instantly began melting thanks to the heat of his face. It made his head sting incredibly, which was exactly what he wanted.

"_No" he didn't want to remember now!_

Instantly, the stupid vision began dulling away, his breath turned more steady and less loud.

_He just wanted to get going already! He didn't have time to be pathetic like this!_

Luffy forced the small (nearly frozen) tears in the corners of his eyes back, forced his head back up, forced his eyes to open and for them to look ahead at the horror unfolding.

He quickly realized how convenient things suddenly were.

Because some of the barrels had now been shattered, it could give Luffy a clear vision of the battlefield, while at the same time, that pirate's fat body covered him almost completely, which meant nobody else would spot him.

_As disgusting and heinous as taking advantage of a dead body was, Luffy really had no other choice. The man was at least 14 feet tall you know. He couldn't just move him even if he wanted to! (Which he didn't but still) He was in the way, which meant there was only one thing he could do._

Ignoring the twisting feeling of shame in his stomach (this was basically the same kind of respect those CP jackasses would show dead people), Luffy grabbed onto his blood-splattered jacket pulling himself up just by the smallest amount to peep at the continuing battle.

The pirates were ganging up in groups to take on single or smaller groups of agents, which, had it been anybody else, would have gotten Luffy's blood boiling for pulling such a cheap trick. The pirates fought with some weak looking swords and the agents with their rifles.

Luffy couldn't really tell who was winning, though. Both parties had their strengths, though the pirates' numbers were dropping pretty fast, which, surely, wasn't good. He couldn't navigate, so he needed at least some of them to get away so they could steer the ship for him.

Something was not right about that chaotic ordeal as a whole, though...

_Where was that bird-brain pigeon bastard anyway? _

It was worrying. Lucci was strong. Stronger than Luffy. Running into him could - no, _would_ certainly mean gamer over. He wasn't even sure how much of a fight he had left in him at this point.

Lucci, however, surely would stand out from the enraged crowd, even if he too was wearing all black. Why wasn't he though? Why wasn't he out there, swatting the pirates like flies like Luffy knew he was capable of?

_..._

_Well, whatever… the fact that he stayed away was just good. He wouldn't start complaining and jinx himself. _

"Come on crew! Let's show them what we're made of! Kill every single government dog and we'll get famous!" A mean with a shabby, torn, and lame red cloak and two fancy-looking swords - the captain, Luffy assumed from how he was giving out orders - commanded.

"YEAH!" The crew screamed back in excitement.

"Tch! Do not falter! They're just mere pirate pieces of rubbish!" A random agent shouted back as a reply to their cockiness.

"All of you have committed a great crime by attacking an official ship of the World Government! This will be your execution ground, _pirates!_"

_Aaaand_, with those yells, the fighting - _slaughtering _more correctly - continued.

Luffy decided he shouldn't waste his time watching their fight any longer. He needed to figure out how exactly he was gonna get onto that ship.

The deck was swarming with nothing but enemies. Both parties would probably just kill him, which meant going straight across and using his rubber arm to grab onto the pirates' ship to _swing_ across would do no good.

His brows furrowed.

_Man_. He was - and never had or would be - good at thinking ahead or making plans to that stuff. How exactly was he supposed to get out of here? Staying hidden meant nothing if the pirates were just gonna leave without him.

_Kay was maybe not been as smart as she had first seemed, simply telling him to escape without giving him any instructions as to _how. _Maybe she was overestimating Luffy's abilities or underestimating the pirates._

He began sweating nervously…

_No! There had… just _had _to be a way out of there! It wasn't impossible, he just _knew _it!_

What would Ace do in a situation like this? Well, he would charge right through, kick their asses, and simply steal their entire ship if he couldn't get the pirates to listen to him and take him where he wanted.

But that wouldn't work now. Luffy was too weak to fight all those guys alone, so as much as it pained him, staying hidden was his only option.

_Then again, had he been Ace, he wouldn't even have been caught in the first place..._

Ok then, what about _Sabo_? E-even if he was gone now, he could still imagine it, right? Well, he would try anyway. Sabo was always more careful and considerate… if a fight was too tough to simply charge head into, he would make a strategy as to how he could win.

The problem with that was that Luffy was not smart enough to make strategies. At least, not strategies that had any sort of hope of actually working.

Luffy thought harder. What had Sabo told him? To… to look around and look for anything useful? But what exactly would be considered 'useful' in a situation like this? No mere weapon or something of that sort could defend him from an entire army.

Despite that, Luffy nervously glared around. Agents and pirates fighting on the right. Pirates and agents fighting on his left. Nothing but a dead body and a splintered alcohol barrel beneath him.

'_Come on stupid brain, think harder or I can't go see Ace…!'_ Luffy scolded mentally as his fear continued to grow wider.

_This was bad. He knew that. _

As Luffy was panicking, he suddenly spotted three figures (pirates from the smell and look of it) approaching him directly.

He immediately slid back down, hiding his head.

_Crap! Had they seen him?! He wasn't sure.. they hadn't stared directly at him or shouted "hey you!" or "die!" yet, which was probably a good sign. Unless their plan was a sneak attack, but that didn't make much sense. _

Luffy tried pulling back as fast as the stupidly big coat would allow him but quickly realized that was pointless.

Instead, he went onto the next-best thing - making himself as small and flat as rubber-humanly possible. He pressed himself against the snow-covered deck, immediately feeling the frosty biting sensation on his skin.

He, however, ignored the pain to lay still and hold his breath as he heard the cracking of the snow. They had stopped walking. They were so close now Luffy was sure they would spot him if they just looked down, and it would nearly be laughable if they didn't.

_And since he was wearing a Navy coat and they were pirates…-_

"Poor guy, Garry."

"He deserved better - no, he still does!"

…

_Luffy nearly let himself let out a loud sigh as a massive wave of relief washed over his small figure. He only stopped himself because he was still not discovered and wouldn't dare do something that would change that fact. _

The pirates sounded genuinely sad. Not that Luffy doubted pirates could have a heart - not in the slightest. After all, Shanks had been like that, and that's how he would sail the seas too. It was just ironic, hearing that from them when they were in the middle of a raid.

"...Wanna, get to moving him then? He would want a proper burial after all, don't you think?"

"Sure, but we'll need some back-up. Not to be mean or anything ol' friend, but… you're not _exactly_ the definition of attractive anymore, wouldn't you agree?"

_The joke was followed up by a few hoarse laughs. _

Immediately, the sound of boots quickly stepping through the thick layer of snow indicated they had run off somewhere.

Luffy pushed himself to sit, shivering. Great, now his entire front was soaked as if it wasn't _already_ cold enough!

The conversation he had just heard, however, was mostly meaningless. All he knew was that he needed to get away. Or he'd be found when they returned.

The problem was his escape routes were numbered, and he needed a way to _get_ onto _that ship_! Of course, he could always attempt crawling back the way he came and think of another way, but he feared the pirates would leave or an agent would spot and call him out while he did so.

_And trying to sneak through the bloody merciless battlefield of death and slaughter was not an option… too... _painful _for Luffy's current taste_.

…

_Wait-_

Luffy stared blankly at the corpse in front of him, biting his lip yet again as another idea struck him.

_No! That would be wretched and heinous and wrong and disgusting and shameless and disrespectful and… and-! The mere thought made him want to throw up! _

But… did he even have a choice…? That guy was big enough for him to crawl under his clothes (jacket of course) and hide. Then when those guys came back to pick him, they would take the dead guy _and_ him to their ship, and he could sneak out and hide until they reached an island or something.

Luffy kept staring, thoughts racing through his head.

He _really_ wanted to go see Ace… even if he had to sink this low. Even if it meant hiding on a corpse. Even if it meant enduring a little more death and blood and screams and explosions, he _would do it._

He clenched his teeth and pushed aside the nauseating feeling he got simply by looking at it.

'_Ace, I'm coming!'_

With that thought, Luffy held his breath and expeditiously slithered his way - as if was he a little ant - under the thick fur.

_Two - no, three - things immediately struck him as he did so_.

First, it was surprisingly easy to get a good grip. All the man's fat was perfect for grabbing, as _inconvenient_ as doing such a shameful thing really would be to any ordinary human.

Second, the coat was _wet_. Luffy had a hunch it wasn't just water - snow that had melted like with himself - or heck, even _blood_ or something like that since it was also stinky.

That wasn't good, maybe that meant he would be stinky afterward too… plus, he was for some strange reason not wearing even a tank top or something underneath the jacket, which meant thousands upon thousands of long greasy hairs were tickling his face and giving him a dangerous itchy feeling in his nose that hopefully would not lead to a sneeze.

Third, and lastly, the man was cold. As cold as a stone, even though he was wearing his jacket. Even as Luffy was laying on top of his massive hairy chest, no thumps of a beating heart could be felt, no raise or fall from the chest. Just emptiness. Just a daunting silence, except for the fuss from the many fights around him.

It (quite literally) made Luffy sick to his stomach just laying there.

"Over here!"

_Unintentionally, Luffy began holding his breath at the unfamiliar voice. It belonged to a pirate though. The agents didn't bother with dead bodies. They'd probably just dump all of them into the ocean once the battle was over. _

'_Calm down, it's gonna be fine. They can't see you, remember?' _Luffy thought.

It was true, they couldn't. As much as the fact had annoyed him to end in the past, he was small. Small enough that there would be no lump visible where he laid.

Despite knowing that fact pitifully well, his heart didn't want to calm down.

'_Shhh! SHHH! Stop it, you're gonna give me away!' Luffy mentally scolded his heart for thumping so incredibly loudly. _

"Is he the last one? I really would like it if we avoid more casualties tonight…"

"Yeah, let's get 'em, then scram from this shitty hell."

"Damn straight. Although this boat of crap had no treasure, surely your bounty will be up after a big attack like this one capt'n."

Their (in Luffy's current state of mind very boring and irrelevant) conversation stopped briefly. An uncountable amount of groans sounded, and before Luffy - inside the darkness of the coat - could follow along, felt the massive body he laid on wobbled unsteadily as it was raised off of the floor.

_How they had managed to lift up the man was beyond Luffy. Maybe the guys weren't as big of pushovers as he had first thought… that could mean trouble..._

The 14-year old dug his fingernails into the corpse's skin as he had his grip slip a little.

_No._ He would for the love of Oda _not_ allow himself to fall down now that he had finally come this far! (And it was not like the corpse complained about it soooooo…)

"Damn… when'd he… get this heavy…?" A breathless voice said with a snicker.

"Guess we held… a few too many parties the last few weeks… we're all a little outta shape, doncha think?"

_A hoarse winded laugh followed that particular observation._

"Damn… and I was really enjoying… hooking up with a new girlfriend at every new... town we came by... guess we'll need to watch it… from now on?"

That's when Luffy began stopped paying attention to their conversation. It was boring - they were just talking about something about girls, a 'one-nighter' whatever the hell that meant. He had a serious problem.

_It was starting to get hot. Like, really, really, _really _hot. _

Yes, now that just a few minutes of tedious _nothing_ had happened, Luffy was starting to realize he maybe should have taken off the jacket before crawling under a thick air-less coat stuffed tightly with fur on the inside.

He could barely breathe at this point. The heat made it painful to breathe slowly (well, as slow as he could with a heart racing over 1 million miles an hour) and with every small breath he took, his lungs screamed for more air.

It made his lungs hurt and his head begin to spin. _Again_. And also, he was drenched in sweat. While his hair was also starting to stick to his forehead and block his vision, his biggest concern was still keeping a grip.

Although the bandages (even if they were drenched from earlier) prevented his sweaty palms from slipping, his fingers were just about numb from how painfully they were currently throbbing.

Luffy felt his grip loosen. He wanted to push past the pain from his broken fingers but there was no response in his hands. (And of course, it didn't help that he had earlier smashed his right fist carelessly into the ground either...)

_Oh oh, that was _not _good. _

Luffy gritted his teeth in frustration, immediately focusing his strength to other limbs to compensate for that lacking in his fingertips. Desperate, like a little child clinging to its mommy, Luffy 'hugged' the massive body much tighter, not knowing what else to do.

His sore muscles immediately began complaining by throbbing as well but that much Luffy could deal with.

'_Please just hurry your asses up!' _He thought, _scared_.

"Oi! Stop right there! Where do you _pirates_ think you're going carrying that thing!?"

"_Thing!? _He was part of our crew y'know!"

Luffy felt that they stopped walking (not that they had been moving quickly anyway). "_Don't stop now, just ignore that guy!"_ is what he wanted to get up and yell in their ugly faces. They were so close (at least he thought so)... couldn't they just get this over with already!?

"Go! Deliver some ass-kicking since they dared insult one of us!"

"...And, don't you dare stop until you've paid them back tenfold, got that!? That's an order!" A nearby voice shrieked.

"YEAH! Come on guys, let's deal one last wave of destruction!"

"One more push!"

_And that, Luffy decided, was _the _one time he would be happy to have his face squished against a hairy, stinky chest. _

Luffy could only listen, but really, he had no clue _what_ he was actually hearing. There were gunshots without a doubt. And also the use of swords, Luffy assumed from the sound of tearing flesh followed by a cry... But everything else was just chaos. A blur of really scary noises.

Were they (Luffy had no clue if it was even soldiers or pirates)… crying from pain and despair or simply just howling in anger? The pirates wanted vengeance for their fallen nakama. Where they actually managing to do that? If the agents were losing, then how bad was it? How many of _their_ bodies were now flooding the deck?

None of those questions Luffy could seem to find an answer for where he was currently laying. He didn't want any either. The many awful sounds around him he did not want to be apart of any longer.

_He just wanted to get away already!_

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

Kay sighed. Not unusual, especially for these past minutes. Honestly, she thought she might have made a new personal record or something...

'_Alright, that leaves just two.'_

Kay found herself to be quite peculiar. Medicine, wounds of any kind or severity, poison, diseases, poisons, you name it she would know basically everything (except for some rare exceptions of course, but forever learning new stuff was part of being a doctor).

And yet, she found herself to be so laughably bad as basically everything else. She wasn't actually smart or good at strategizing or thinking ahead. Therefore, even _she_ had been surprised when her mind had remembered an issue she had needed to address.

It was still cold outside, and even if she _was_ under deck, she could very much still feel the low temperature, even to the very core of her bones. It wasn't as bad as earlier though, so maybe that meant the temperature would start rising back to normal again soon.

Getting another coat to protect herself from getting sick, however, could wait.

As the battle had still been raging on at a headache-inducingly loud level above her, she had been busy. And as of right now, she stood in the communication office. An area in which she was, under normal circumstances, prohibited from entering without permission.

Fortunately, however, the current circumstances were anything _but_ normal. With all the guards gone, she figured she would invite herself in. After all, she was now a woman with a plan.

Kay sent a silent prayer in Luffy's way. Hopefully, things were going alright… she hadn't heard anybody scream "son of Dragon" yet, which was probably a good sign.

She _would _help him. Even if it was in an indirect way like this.

_*Snip*_

Another wire was cut. That was another den-den mushi disabled, now unable to be used for contacting HQ to report any of the things that would transpire on this ship.

_This way, she could save time. For Luffy._

It wasn't gonna be long before somebody would notice his absence. Hiding the fact that he was now gone would be impossible. However, they were on a ship, days of sailing away from any island with a marine base on it.

After stealing a pair of scissors, cutting off the den-den mushis was as easy as pie. While it didn't mean Luffy was now safe from pursuit, at least this way he would get a few days before a squad could be sent to recapture him.

Only the higher-ups even knew of his existence, after all, so even the marines wouldn't be of any threat unless Luffy did something stupid to catch their attention.

_Sadly, she wouldn't put that past him. All she could do was pray that Luffy had learned his lesson and would be extra careful. _

With wary steps, Kay silently walked to the last table with the last snail-phone.

"This is it…" She said to herself, not hesitating in even the slightest as the last wire was cut - hopefully, to never be used again.

She let out a breath, and something resembling a weak smile formed on her lips. All anxiety and worry dissolved, and instead, a feeling very unfamiliar to the doctor washed over her.

_She was… proud? Accomplished? She had really managed to do something she herself had decided to because it was really for the greater good and not meant to hurt anybody? _

It was strange. Going back, all she could remember was taking orders from the government.

They'd told her to throw her pride as a doctor aside and let her patients die. They'd said the lives of the agents - who were still flesh and blood humans, even behind the monster-like facade they put up - their very own mattered not if it was too much trouble to treat them.

They'd also told her to stand by and watch as they would torture their prisoners, just so she immediately could get to treat them and the abuse could continue on for a little longer. _Just to be sure they would suffer for longer… every single day minute and second mattered._

It was wrong. In those situations, she - _a doctor!_ \- would rather just let the unfortunate victims die.

For years she had followed through with it too. Simply because there was no other choice. They could always replace her. Like they replaced their soulless soldiers fighting and dying for the stupidest of reasons.

_Huh… the more she thought about it, maybe it wasn't too strange it felt so damn good to rebel against that very corrupt organization._

She chuckled to herself, feeling like a teenager laughing about misbehaving against their parents.

"What's so funny?" A sudden _horribly_ familiar voice spat out, causing Kay's stomach to twist from shock.

She froze, more from surprise than fear. She hadn't expected anybody to be onto her yet…

_Except, just one not-so dumb jackass, that was..._

Her expression remained stern, but not even she could hide the few droplets of sweat forming on her forehead. She casually - as if had she not just committed a literal _crime_ \- turned her head to look at the man standing in the door.

"When'd you get there?" She commanded to know, no ounce of fear or nervosity in her plain voice.

_A great question. Knowing him, it could have been the entire time, and she still probably wouldn't have noticed_.

"Shouldn't you be up on deck fighting? Your troops are probably in trouble without their big strong leader."

Lucci ignored her question. He was here for answers, not to give them. And Kay _would_ answer him. Even if it was pretty damn obvious what she was up to.

"The lives of those disposable fools matters not. My gut was telling me something was wrong… I found the cell with the government's current most important prisoner empty. Under no circumstances should a weakened child have been able to escape on his own, even if his cell was unguarded for a short while. And then, I walk down here to find _you_, down here with _those_ in your hand, causing trouble..."

Lucci locked his gaze with Kay's. Both of their eyes were fuming, unwilling to look away no matter the intensity of the staring. Kay's will was strong and unbendable, no doubt. Lucci had known that since the very second he had met her years ago.

Even now, she wasn't shaking. She wasn't scared. Even if she knew a single wrong word to lead to her demise. This was just another meeting - another talk with one of the humans she loathed so very much, much like any other day.

"Just what do you think you're doing..? Do you not know what dangerous game you're playing, woman?"

Kay snickered, unwavered by his cute attempt at threatening her.

"Oh trust me, I of all you dumbasses would know. Know that _I've_ done the right thing by helping Luffy escape. He's still just an innocent brat after all."

"There is absolutely nothing innocent about a kid of his lineage."

"Maybe. Or maybe, you're simply too blinded by your obsession with control to realize that nor he or any of the thousands of people you've killed have done anything to deserve this."

_She was ranting a little more than she'd normally let out. Oh well, that was fine. There was no way her actions wouldn't have any repercussions, so might as well add in a few curses just so she could feel extra good about this. _

Silence.

It was tense, but Kay didn't let it face her.

She was ready for whatever would happen to her. Death was an empty thought. A numb feeling of nothingness. It was a threat that no longer made her as much as raise a brow or feel a shiver when thinking about the crapload she had witnessed.

Nor about how she would someday - very possibly today - have the same fate as all those victims in the government's cruelty.

"Where is he?" Lucci demanded to know, pulling his blood-soaked hands (even if they were currently clean, Kay knew that they had taken more lives than she could ever hope to count) out of his pockets.

_He was readying himself. _

If Luffy was no longer in his cell, that meant Kay had some kind of plan so he could _escape_. How? Lucci couldn't quite wrap his mind around it. If she truly wanted to protect the damn troublemaker, what would she dem the safest?

Have him hide on the boat until they landed on an island to report of his disappearance?

Have him sneak through the chaos of the battle and silently steal a lifeboat to get away on?

_No. He could -_ would _\- not allow such a thing to happen. And Kay would, in fact, tell him_ _exactly _where_ he could find him. _

The doctor, however, merely stared blatantly back at him, without answering his command.

_Honestly, it was strange, wrong in some eyes, maybe. To simply give up on everything herself and her life after all the years she had endured the suffering. And it would all be for Luffy. For a kid whose smile shined brighter than Kizaru's lasers, a smile she, at some point she couldn't remember, had devoted herself to protecting._

_And in all actuality, she was pretty ok with that. _

"Where is he..? In some place that's better than staying on this damned ship, that's for sure." Kay replied.

_It had gotten quiet around them… no more creaking planks above them. The yelling had faded into a distinct barely even noticeable chatter. It was 'peaceful' again compared to just a few moments ago. _

_It could mean only one thing. The battle was over, which meant it would no longer matter if Lucci was smart enough to figure out what had happened. Although she had no way to know for sure, she was confident Luffy had managed to pull off his escape… probably..._

Lucci visibly flinched from anger at Kay's vague reply. He understood, though, and as realization dawned on him, his emotions arose.

"You…! Don't tell me you…!"

_This was bad… really really really really bad. Small drops - but drops nonetheless - of sweat appeared. _

For once, Lucci's professional front seemed gone, replaced with a panic-stricken look and wide eyes.

Kay innerly wished she had a camera. _That_ right there was a face she would never ever forget, and would forever be thankful to the god above that she had actually been allowed to see.

"You'd be underestimating me to think I wouldn't have thought of this, leopard-brain."

Lucci, completely ignoring the woman's unacceptable attitude, spun around and immediately began running at full speed, leaving Kay behind.

_She was unimportant, at least for the time being. How? How could he possibly have allowed this to happen? How had he been just a second too late to notice and to stop this?_

Furniture; lamps, pots with flowers, and desks were knocked over and broken as the man sped by down the hallways of the ship.

Although he was fast - the sprint to the deck was in all actually over before he even had time to consider changing into his leopard form to go even _faster_ \- every damned step he took felt as if it brought him nowhere closer to his goal.

Every second his worry increased.

_Please. For the love of Oda, do not net him be too late._

The door to the main deck was soon in sight. Lucci chose simply to break it down as he forced his way through, onto the main deck he had left just a mere 10 minutes ago.

It was a mess, to say the least. His main laid scattered pathetically in the snow which was now a sludge of brown (and also noticeably red thanks to blood he assumed) disgusting goo.

Some - well, most - seemed dead, if not on the verge of being so, groaning and clutching their bleeding parts with that empty look of a dying man plastered all over their cold faces.

Some of them batted him an eye as he rushed onto the deck. Some of them didn't.

"Rob… Rob Lucci… sama…" Came a dying breath from one of them.

Lucci ignored their frivolous cries, desperately scanning his surroundings with his heightened sights for any sign that it was not yet over.

_There was nothing, though._

Just bloodied corpses and the few survivors. It was actually pretty peaceful compared to earlier, now that the sun had even poked through the chunky grey clouds hanging in thick lumps above them.

_No._

In desperation for an answer, Lucci turned his frustration towards a random man sitting by the side of one of his dying comrades, grabbed his collar roughly and forced their eyes to meet.

"Where are they!?" He spat.

"Wh-what? Who?" The confused man cried, feeling his injuries hurt by the sudden violent treatment.

"The pirates! Where did they go!? Tell me right now!"

The man could not get himself to utter even a single word, too frightened, too hurt, too puzzled, to even attempt it. Weakly, he raised a trembling arm to point out at the sea, as that was all he could muster.

Lucci dropped him carelessly onto the floor, ignoring his weak cry of pain as he did so, hurrying to the railing to look closer.

…

In the distance, a ship - a small dot definitely impossible for any human eye to spot - was slowly sailing further and further away, towards the burning bright sun rising in the horizon.

_Lucci knew they had lost. With this many of his men biting the dust, there were not enough to operate the ship. And he was a devil fruit user, which meant no swimming. There was no going after him. And Kay's efforts had, in fact, not been in vain. _

_They were stuck. And Luffy was free._

* * *

**And BOOM! With that, Luffy's journey can finally begin!**

**Sorry if this chapter was not the greatest... it's necessary, though and I promise the next one will be very good, with the return of Garp and Luffy having to learn what it means to be on the run! (I'm personally really looking forward to writing it as well!)**

**I can also, in fact, promise these will be the darkest chapters in the entire story (although I do have some pretty evil plans for the future that Luffy is not gonna take lightly) and the next few chapters will have a much lighter feel to them. **

**Next, let me address a matter I've seen multiple people write about in their review. I will just come out and say right now, that sadly (and yes it pains me just a much!) Ace won't be appearing in any of the next couple of chapters :( I just want to *SPOILER* give everybody (Dragon, Shanks) a chance to properly become involved in this mess and not just awkwardly show up once it's over like, "Yeah sorry we didn't do anything earlier and weren't there when you really needed it, but hey, we're awesome, so now we're here!" Y'know? I totally understand if you don't have the patience to wait for that boring stuff though, and if that's the case, just be on the lookout for a chapter called "You've suffered enough" :D**

* * *

**Here are some answers for the reviews from awsome folks:**

**wjgr: Thank you so much for pointing that out. Honestly, the whole concept of seastone has always been confusing, and I'm a complete idiot for not looking up how it actually worked when I wrote that chapter. It was my bad. My very stupid mistake. And I apologize for that if it's taken away any enjoyment of reading my story. I swear I will not make the same mistake in the future now that you've corrected me. There's still the things with his hands though. Going back and changing it would take so much time I decided I would rather keep it, even knowing its a big flunk. Forgive me for that? Please? I swear I'll never do it again!**

**Sophia Mendes-Coruja: Hello Sophia! Yes, the nurses took perfectly good care of me, and I already feel just a little better. And thank you for your kind words, you are truly the sweetest 3. And yes, I am already looking forward to the scene where Ace and Luffy meet. Trust me, you _seriously_ should too if you love getting your heart shattered ;)**

**Rahhpixy: Glad you think so! And yes, while I fully agree Luffy needs other people who can care for him, he'll have to learn the hard way not to trust anybody just because they care for him ;)**

**Guest: Your English was perfect, do not worry about it! And thanks, my back hurts a lot, so that's why I went for treatment, so I'm doing better now! And I am glad you enjoy reading my story, I just try my best and hope it's acceptable :D And GOD even if it will be a while, I really can't wait to get Ace involved... he'll be so pissed when he finds out about everything... like how Luffy hid on a freaking corpse to escape XD**

**LUO: Glad I was able to satisfy you! I promise I'll update again as soon as my brain and fingers allow me too. I don't know exactly when Ace's chapter will be, but if I have to make a rough estimate, I'd say 5 or 6 chapters (maybe?). It's a long time, I know, but I'll do my damn best to make it as satisfying and heartwrenching once it _does_ happen! **

**ChunkyFunkyMunky: Of course, going back and re-reading my chapter for myself, I can certainly see why you would feel that way. I respect your outlook because Garp is a great character who I, admittedly, have a hard time writing. I will promise he'll actually take action in the next chapter and do some major things but don't expect to have an entire second story just focused on Garp's struggles alongside Luffy's... **

**Push23: Yes. They do. Do not worry, though, I promise karma will eventually come and bite their big fat butts. Regarding Kay, you'll find out her fate in the next chapter, promise :)**

**silverrayn123: AJSODFJAOSJDFAO! I AM SO SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT! I personally felt the last 2 chapters weren't quite as good as I know the upcoming ones will be, and that really annoyed me when I was writing, so I'm happy you got a bit of enjoyment while reading :D**

**lou: (Dunno if you're also LOU, but oh well, I'll respond separately just to avoid confusion XD) Yes, thank you. The flu is an incredibly annoying disease that I'm fortunate enough to have not been hit be yet this year. Oh, and I hope you've had a great spring festival! I don't know what that entails, but it sounds really awesome :D**

**That's it for now! Again, thanks so so much to anybody who bothers leaving a review, I love you guys so much 3**

**Updates from now on will, however, be a little slower as I've begun drawing fanart and other stuff, so that can take off a few days of my writing schedule :( Promise it'll never be longer than 2 weeks though, so do not worry, I WILL continue writing and updating as much as possible, and really, just a few more days to write will help prevent any stupid burn-outs from happening, cause no one likes that!**

_**-Cookie**_


	8. Garp's here everyone!

**Hiya, back with another update! Yay! **

**-A quick note before reading this chapter is this other small detail that makes a bit of a difference in this story. In this story, Garp had in fact been good at keeping Luffy's secret, so only very very few people know about him. Don't know if this detail is gonna be equally important to everyone, but hey, now you know you at least won't be confused a little later down the line! XD**

_**Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :) **_

**Well, here's... the chapter I guess! Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Garp's here everyone!**

A musty smell all around him, making his stomach turn. Dust was everywhere. Stuck in his hair, tacking onto his wet and disgusting clothes - even inside his eyes causing him to constantly blink away the tears that were formed to wash it out.

Despite this, however, Luffy could finally breathe again.

He was relieved, to say the _least, _to finally have finally gotten away from that corpse. He had been just about to faint because it had been so hot under the jacket - _especially_ when they had gone inside and the temperature around them had changed from below freezing with added frosty winds every now and then to a hellishly hot room temperature.

_He had nearly thrown up, only managing to keep it down because at that time still had been pirates around who would have heard and smelled him. _

Luffy, however, despite nearly _sweating to death_, had waited on the corpse. Waited until the voices and footsteps had been gone. And then, of course, just another few extra minutes, just to be sure the coast was clear.

Only _then_ had he finally been able to crawl out from under the suffocating coat. He had damn near ripped Kay's coat to shreds when he had.

Air had never felt so great. Air - _just freaking air! -_ had never once in his life felt as refreshing and pain-relieving as it had at that moment. At first, he had gasped for air. Coughing, choking, his lungs even hurting, in the same way, they also would when he had been submerged underwater for too long and would run out of oxygen.

It had been annoying. Really annoying and also quite painful, in fact.

After his head had stopped hurting (from the unhealthy amount of sudden oxygen intake), Luffy had found himself to be in a strange room. And certainly, one he had immediately found very unsettling.

Everywhere, there had been lumps covered with sheets. Bloodstained sheets, to be even more disgustingly precise.

_Luffy hadn't needed to do much imagining to guess what hiding underneath..._

Needless to say, he hadn't like it in there. Luffy figured he needed someplace better to hide if he was - hopefully not, though - gonna stay on the ship for an extended period of time.

And like that, he had confined himself to just waiting inside of there, after quickly discovering that, unfortunately, the only door leading out of the room had been _locked_. That had totally sucked too.

The horrible presence of the corpses was the only thing that had even kept him awake. It was as if, despite flickering awake on multiple occasions and his head feeling incredibly mushy, his body simply refused to rest in a room filled with dead people.

So when, finally, footsteps had sounded and the door had cautiously been unlocked and opened, Luffy had felt so relieved he'd almost forgotten he actually wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. He'd hidden behind the same big guy (Garry?) from before.

The two pirates (honestly, Luffy had already forgotten their faces) who had entered had been completely clueless and had had their attention directed on something entirely different than looking out for intruders.

Luffy thought he'd heard them mumble something about annoying letters that needed to be sent to their families, but he hadn't cared and hadn't paid much attention.

It had taken a surprisingly little amount of effort to successfully sneak out behind their backs, away to someplace that was less unbearable.

_And perhaps with some food too..._

That's, however, when Luffy, unfortunately, had found out the ship was just as big on the inside as it had appeared from the outside.

It had just been a _looooot_ of hallways and a _loooooot_ of doors. Very very long and confusing passages and all the stupid doors had looked the same. It had been like a maze, except there was no end goal for Luffy to strive for.

He had been aimlessly wandering around, too tired to really pay much attention to his surroundings, or to the fact that it was strange how empty the corridors were. Two guys had nearly caught him by complete surprise this way, and if not for their obnoxiously loud blabbering, Luffy was sure he wouldn't have been able to avoid them in time.

It had turned out alright, though. Luffy had hidden in a gap under a questionably unstable staircase, thus (by accident even!) finding the small trap door leading even further down to where he was currently sitting.

Luffy assumed it was maybe supposed to be some sort of storage room, considering the amounts of random crates and barrels standing in stacks.

Over time, however, apparently _something_ had happened to said storage room, as now, it was just flooding with old rotting furniture and broken equipment simply left there to collect dust.

The horrible condition of the chamber was fine - well, bearable if nothing. Even with the bad smell, the spiders, and even the rustling sound of what Luffy assumed to be rats, this fine little room would do well as a hiding spot for now.

After sloppily brushing a spot for him to sit relatively clean for dust and cobwebs, his legs had finally given up on carrying him any further - and his body begging for rest, had collapsed onto the floor.

So now here he was. Sitting in a storage room, too tired to even ransack the barrels or crates for a weapon (a pipe would be nice) or _something_ that could be of use.

_Like food perhaps…_

_***Grumble***_

…

Luffy placed one of his numbed hands on his twisting stomach. The empty feeling was painful despite the fact that he'd grown accustomed to it over the last 3 or so weeks. Luffy just really didn't want to deal with it right now. There was finally peace. Finally no blood, no explosions, and no death. He really didn't want to go look for food...

_Maybe he could just… not think about being hungry, and then the pain would lessen. Just like how Sabo had told him a wound would hurt less if he stopped paying attention to it. _

It was just then, as he stared down on his hurting stomach that Luffy realized one of his buttons had fallen out, leaving small 'hole' for some bandages to peek through.

_Huh… when had that happened? Luffy couldn't recall noticing it tearing. He'd probably been too occupied trying to focus his attention on not being discovered and killed. _

"Oh well… not that it matters anyway…" He mumbled to himself, as if anybody else would hear.

If not for the fact that he literally could not as much as wiggle his fingers at this point, he would have simply buttoned up the vest and run around like that. Barechested. Or… with a bandaged-wrapped chest, that was. It wouldn't really have made a difference to Luffy.

Instead of straining his fingers like that, Luffy leaned his heavy head against the molding wall behind him (the straw hat was still miraculously hanging around his neck. A little wet, yes, but still in perfectly good condition).

He was delightfully surprised by how _not_ cold it was, much unlike the wall he had gotten so used to leaning against back on the ship. He was still sweating lightly, but it was fine to not have himself cooled by some cold air seeping through. He'd had enough of being both hot _and_ cold for a while.

It was, in fact, very quiet now. Quieter than Luffy had had it for nearly a month.

From where he was sitting, he couldn't even hear the sea. He couldn't even hear the pirates' steps, their loud conversations, or any of the commotions a big group of people _should _be causing from anywhere around him.

Just quiet. And the sound of his own exhausted breath in and exhaling in a steady matter.

Luffy didn't know how to feel about that.

The peace and quiet were calming, and a nice treatment for his head which now would maybe finally stop spinning. It was, though, also very disturbing to be sitting completely alone in the dark with no sounds to reassure him of otherwise.

_That he was in fact not alone. Because now he knew that he wasn't._

"Ace…"

Luffy uttered his name longingly.

Where was his brother now? What was he doing? Having fun? Luffy certainly hoped he was having a better time than him at least.

…

_Wait..-_

_How the hell was he even supposed to find him?_

This was the Grand Line. Luffy had never been in the Grand Line before. His sailing and navigation abilities were poor enough as it was, but to make matter worse, he didn't even know where to look. Which town? Which island? Was Ace even _in_ the Grand Line right now!?

'_No, calm down Luffy. Remember, Makino told you Ace joined another crew… that means even finding one of Ace's nakama is good enough!'_ Luffy concluded, proud of how smart he'd gotten.

That's right! He just needed to find them! The Whiteweird pirates!

...

...

_No, wait… that wasn't right._

_..._

_White… - White... W-White-cheer pirates? White-sneer? W-W...White-ear..? _

...

_Luffy couldn't remember. The name Makino had mentioned back then had been unfamiliar, and he'd been too shocked about the whole "Ace is now in another crew" deal to listen more closely. _

_At least he knew for sure it was white-something. And that something sounded_ like_ ear. He'd have to ask someone what crew Portgas D. Ace belonged to once he got the chance to be sure._

Luffy's brows suddenly furrowed into an upset expression.

Wait, how was Ace even gonna react to seeing him? Was he gonna be mad that he broke their promise to first set sail when they were 17? That their own adventures were their own adventures, and that they were supposed to focus on their own goals and dreams separately from the day they set sail?

_What if… what if Ace said_ _**no**__? What would he think when he saw his injuries? Saw the massive scar on his chest…? The scar that proved he was weak? Proved that he was truly the reason everyone had to die like that? That proved he still couldn't do a damn thing on his own?_

_Would he be mad? Would he… w-would he send him away? What if he already had so many so good new friends he had already forgotten about him and wouldn't care when he would come crying and begging for help like he always had? _

Luffy bit his lip, suddenly very viciously shaking his head. The world around him began spinning again because he did so.

No! Him and Ace and Sabo made a promise! A promise that no matter where on the seas they might be, their bond as brothers would never be shattered by anything!

Even if… even if he _was_ weak and pathetic and Ace got mad, he _was _still his brother, and Luffy was the stupid one for thinking Ace would have forgotten that promise.

_No, it was gonna be fine. He _would _find Ace, and everything would be fine. Just how it always was. Luffy was the weak little brother crying for help, to which Ace usually would accept eventually._

Although he _was_ more reluctant to accept certain requests. Like that one time, Luffy had gotten stuck between two rocks. Ace had laughed and rolled around on the ground for 14 minutes straight, all the while Luffy had been angrily shouting incomprehensible words (most likely the childish 'swears' that Luffy was oh so proud of knowing) before he had then finally wiped away his tears and given a helping hand.

The fond memory did all but make Luffy smile.

_Hopefully, Ace would accept him. He wouldn't hide the fact that it was all his fault. That he had been too weak. _

Luffy hated weakness. Well, he hated feeling weak. He was sick of it… sick of crying, sick of being helpless, sick of being powerless to do anything. That he wanted to change. And he was gonna.

'_Ace… wherever you are, I promise to you, I won't cry! Not until I see you so I can prove I'm not a crybaby anymore! I'll show you that I can still get stronger! No tears, you got that!?' _

Of course, his thoughts were met by silence. Luffy didn't mind this time, though. It was a promise, whether it was said aloud or heard by anybody or not!

_And promises were not meant to be broken, after all._

Luffy opened his mouth to tell himself those exact words out loud, but instead, what came was a long drowsy unstoppable yawn.

…

Maybe finding Ace could wait just a little longer… just… until he could actually move his body at full will and his eyes would maybe _stay _open.

Luffy was truly exhausted. More so than he could ever recall having been before. The dark and quiet around him surely didn't help with keeping the drowsy feelings away.

He still didn't want to sleep. He still had nightmares after all, and he feared that now when he was truly all alone with nobody to wake him up (in a gentle or not so gentle manner), that they'd be stronger - worse than ever.

Maybe he could… just sit and think about Ace for a while? About the possible fun he could be having and the stories he could tell him once he got to see him again?

A smile crippled onto the 14-year-olds face at the thought.

_Yes, he would do that._

And thus, with a peaceful expression on his face, Luffy lost his control thanks to the relaxing thoughts. His eyes shut close without him realizing, his consciousness soon fading away to a far far darker and uncontrollable land of nightmares.

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

Garp stared out at the ocean, reminiscing about the past few days.

The familiar dog-headed battleship had met much opposition on its way. Strong winds pushing them back… a mist so thick they had gone in circles for 3 hours straight… hell, at one point, they'd even been attacked by a full _nest _of sea kings, despite the fact that they weren't even in the Calm Belt!

Although, the last-mentioned event had only taken up so much damn time because Garp had felt the need to not only defeat, but literally _pulverize _every single goddamn bone in the poor poor creatures _massive_ bodies.

Not one member of the crew had tried stopping his rage attack, though.

Not when Garp had been as infuriated as just then. The soldiers had simply sent some kind thoughts to the beasts, thankful for their sacrifice so Garp could let out some of his wrath that otherwise would have been aimed at them.

It had been well around a week since they had left HQ. Their voyage had already been set back by a whole day thanks to the terrible weather, a fact that annoyed Garp to no end and caused him to be far grumpier - _angry _even - even more so than usual when something upset him.

Honestly, Garp didn't have even the slightest clue as to how they had yet to come across another battleship (or five if he knew Sengoku) filled with brats who had been sent out to make him turn back.

There was definitely no way in hell they hadn't noticed he was gone yet, considering he had explicitly been _ordered_ not to take even _one_ step out of HQ.

Garp snickered at that.

_The hell if he was gonna listen to such an order after everything that'd happened to _his _home and family!_

After (quite impolitely in fact) excusing himself from Sengoku's office, he'd gone to his own office in order to collect his thoughts, but quickly found sitting still and thinking things over peacefully to be an impossible task.

So he simply hadn't. In the cover of the night, he'd waltzed straight down to the harbor, dragging along the unfortunate souls who had been assigned to 'guard' him, just so they wouldn't snitch on him.

There had been no time to summon his usual crew. They'd had other duties to attend to, or had been sleeping at the time.

So what had Garp done to get around that inconvenience you might ask? Well, although _his_ men might not have been present, a bunch of marines - more than enough for what was needed for a crew to steer a ship the size of a battleship - had been on night watch, ready for action at a second's notice.

_Garp had innerly thanked the god above that Sengoku and all the higher ranking marines had kept the whole deal with Dawn Island a secret. It had made it very easy to threate- *cough* convince_ _them to come aboard without much complaint… or maybe they'd simply been too scared of him at the moment to refuse... Garp didn't care either way. _

So here he was, sailing with a crew he had gathered randomly, all of them completely oblivious to the truth or why they were even there.

...

_Well… all but one, that was._

Bogard, Garp's entrusted right-hand man had also tagged along. Normally, Garp wouldn't have minded that at all… it kind of was his job to follow him everywhere he went, after all.

Not for this trip, though. And there were multiple reasons as to why.

For the past 7 excruciatingly long days, he'd been constantly telling Garp to turn back. That this was not a good idea, and that he was letting his emotions get the better of him, all the while getting innocent marines involved in a mess that could them killed so they'd keep quiet about Luffy once they returned.

Honestly, it had surprised Garp how much Bogard had talked to him for the past week. It proved how truly desperate he must've been. After all, he was not a man of many words.

But even despite his best efforts, all he had managed was a promise from Garp that he would not kill Lucci on sight, and that his visit would be very brief so unnecessary questions would not have time to be asked. (Unfortunately, only time could would be able to tell whether or not Garp could restrain himself from breaking those promises...)

A week had passed, after all, so the marines had stopped asking about why they were heading out after realizing on day 4 that they weren't gonna receive an answer to that question.

"Garp-san."

The hat-wearing marine (currently also wearing a matching black suit, coincidentally looking awfully similar to the agents) walked up beside his superior, sending him a strict look from underneath the hat.

Garp didn't answer, nor even gaze in his direction to meet Bogard's eyes. He knew, though, that Garp was in fact listening. After a full week, Garp had run out of creative ways to tell him off.

"You know I respect you and acknowledge that you're a great man - one who I, in fact, take great pride in supporting. But you're being unreasonable, Garp-san, don't you see that?"

His tone of voice was harsh, even if it wasn't his intention to sound heartless.

Bogard felt incomprehensibly sorry for Garp. Even if he thought it wasn't a good idea for him to be doing what currently he was, that didn't mean he didn't understand _why_.

He'd lost his _home_. He hadn't even been there to witness it. He had had absolutely no control or knowledge of any of it happening. And for what? All just so they could capture his _grandson! _Heck, he'd only learned of this through a report by some random guy whose name Garp probably didn't even remember.

It was truly no wonder that he was furious. The problem was, the perpetrators were none other than the World Government. An organization that Garp just so happened to be _supporting_.

True, he was a legendary marine, Garp the fist, Vice-admiral Garp, Gold Roger's rival and all that stuff. Ever since the government had found out the revolutionary Dragon, aka Monkey D. Dragon was his son, those titles of his plus his legacy had been what had protected him from taking _**full**_ responsibility for Dragon's actions.

_But now, with the discovery of a grandson that carried on Dragon's bloodline, the government had become desperate._ _Desperate enough to burn the home island of the marine hero to the ground. _

Honestly, _they_ were the fools if they thought nothing like this would happen by doing so.

True, Garp didn't take crap from them. Not from the Gorosei or the Celestial Dragons. But with this incident, Bogard had to admit he was a little worried on Garp's behalf.

Just the fact that Garp for 14 years straight (and this Bogard fully accepted and was also responsible for. He wasn't heartless after all) had been hiding him, the freakin _son_ of the head of the revolutionary army right under the government's noses was sure to have risen some flags of suspicion amongst the higher ranks.

To make a long story short, neither Garp or the government were at good terms with each other as of right now. What the hell that would lead to, Bogard was _scared_ to know. Nothing good for either party though, that was for sure, and this current little stunt of Garp's would surely do nothing to better their relationship.

Bogard bit his lip. He just didn't want anything bad to happen to his good friend… he'd tried for the past week, but apparently, it was too much to ask that he simply stayed out of trouble.

"How many times do I need to keep telling you that this is a bad idea?" Bogard questioned.

"And how many times do _I_ need to tell _you_ that I don't give a damn?" Garp responded, his voice empty and only slightly angry sounding, though Bogard suspected it was mostly thanks to the annoyance of having to constantly repeat himself more so than actually being mad at _him_.

"Until the moment you agree with me. Please, Garp, I know you're still hurting after everything that's happened. I understand that you'd want to see your grandson right now, but you could've just waited the remaining week instead of disobeying orders-"

"_**OI!**_... Vice-admiral Garp! I see it! Ship #11089 spotted directly at 12 o'clock!" The exerted marine stationed in the crow's reported, as he had been forced to.

'_Already!?'_

Bogard was surprised, to say the least. All his persuasive talk… _pointless_.

Garp gritted his teeth, a vein popping on his forehead without him even realizing, at the announcement.

_Finally. He was about to go crazy if he had to stand and just gaze the ocean while listening to the whining marines and Bogard's complaints for just one more day. _

And true to the lookout's word, a small unmoving little black blob soon popped up amidst the blue ocean in the distance - a ship, the one they'd sailed all this way to reach.

"Finally… it's been such a tough week!"

"I hope we at least can get to rest a little before we'll need to head back… and that we won't be attacked by another nest of sea kings when we do. Garp-san's scary…"

The agents began whispering amongst themselves. It had been a difficult journey, sure, but they couldn't help but wonder what was gonna happen now.

"What are your next orders, Garp-san?" A dedicated soldier asked, now more enthusiastically than he would've days prior.

The oblivious soldiers patiently waited for an answer to their question. They... didn't receive one though…

Garp was… strangely quiet considering that they had finally arrived… _this_ was the reason he had set sail, wasn't it? To find that damn boat?

His lack of words especially worried Bogard because he could, in fact, not read Garp's expression. Was he mad? Had his wrath and craving for revenge returned? Or was he truly second-guessing his decision? Probably not… but then what was that glint in his eyes for…?

"Garp-san?" He hesitantly asked, not receiving any more of an answer than the cannon fodder-soldiers (let's be honest, that's what they really were) had.

Suddenly - still without saying a word up to this point - Garp began walking forwards with seemingly to intention to stop. The problem was, they were standing at the end of a ship leading out to sea-king infested waters.

_Suddenly, the 72-year old man climbed onto the side of the railing. _

"Next order…?" He repeated.

_Bogard realized just a second too late what Garp was up too..._

"No orders, just some good advice…"

"Don't do it Garp-san!" Bogard shouted, immediately dashing towards the man, fully knowing he could do nothing to stop him at this point.

"_**Don't get in my way."**_

With that bloodthirsty statement, Garp took his leap into the icy-cold waters, leaving behind a stunned and panicking crew. He began swimming - faster than their pathetic little warship could ever hope to even in the strongest of winds.

Bogard grabbed onto the railing, nearly shattering the wood with his strong grip as he felt the anger start boiling up inside him.

'_Seriously Garp!? And after the promise you made!'_

His urge to jump in right after him was immense. But he managed to stop himself, knowing these poor marines (most of them weren't even 20 yet) would be helpless if they were to be left on their own out here.

_Like, what if a sea-king came by or something! Garp might be emotionally unstable and irresponsible, but he sure as hell wasn't gonna follow his example. _

Bogard could do nothing but swallow a lump that had manifested in his throat. It was more on behalf of the agents on that other warship - those poor souls who had no clue what they had coming.

_Hopefully, though, everybody would get through this alive._

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

It was dead quiet in the infirmary. If not for the beeping of the machines constantly reading the fallen agents' heart rates, blood pressures, and for some very unlucky victims, brain activity, Kay was sure you'd be able to hear even a pin being dropped onto the floor.

For the past 24 hours, she'd been working her ass off, rushing from patient to patient, treating injury after injury with such speed she had even run out of breath.

_Being the only doctor on the ship came with its disadvantages, after all._

Since Lucci was here, it was honestly a rare occurrence that anybody was seriously injured, so they'd never _needed_ more than just one doctor - not even a couple of nurses for assistance.

Unfortunately for Kay, that meant in a special occasion (or emergency she supposed…?) such as this one, she was all on her own.

_Yes_, she was in fact doing her utmost best to save the lives of the agents. But it was solely thanks to her moral code as a doctor. Not because she actually cared about them (hell, they fully deserved the pain they were currently in). Not _even _because Lucci had forced her to do this, and was constantly standing no more than 10 feet behind her, _daring_ her to try to do anything she wasn't supposed to.

Of course, she didn't let herself be stressed by his death-glare. If she lost her concentration just because of that, then what kind of doctor would she be?

It had, however, finally reached that 'calm' state where all she had to do was constantly check up on the vitals of the ones in the most critical states, and all others would recover with enough rest.

Those who still been able to stand at the time her treating process had begun had already been put back to work.

All treatment their injuries had needed was a little cleaning (big babies had begun whining about how badly it stung), and then she'd handed them some bandages and told them to wrap their own damn wounds. They were (well, were _supposed_ to be) adult men for Oda's sake, and she had had better and more important things to do.

Lucci had remained completely silent throughout the chaos, almost fading completely into the background.

He, however, hadn't let her forget that he was monitoring her every move. Kay had felt that.

"_Just hurry with your damn work you filthy traitor, hurry so we can kill you already." That was the message his eyes were conveying._

Tempting as it was to turn around and glare back with a spiteful look of her own, she knew it would've been a meaningless battle between the two - one that would've surely caused her to lose concentration and accidentally let at least a few of the agents die as a result.

But she knew her hard work wasn't gonna change a damn thing in the end. Sure, the agents might survive, but she knew she sure as hell wouldn't. Not unless a miracle happened.

_Then again… she'd wished for something to happen so Luffy could get a chance to escape… who knew, maybe something (but she doubted it, miracles were only miracles because they happened once, after all) would happen. It not, then that was fine too._

"..."

"Woman. Why did you help him?"

Lucci's sudden question nearly started Kay. After he hadn't as much as uttered a word for a whole day, she hadn't expected those words to be the first he would say.

_He was asking for her reasons…? Oh, her reasons for doing all of this were pretty damn easy to explain, just not in a way a thick-skulled soulless person like Lucci would understand._

Kay, however, felt absolutely no obligation to answer Lucci and kept her back turned to the man, rudely ignoring his question and instead fiddled a little with some bandages to make sure they were applied just right.

Lucci, though, wasn't gonna accept her silence as a valid answer.

"What could you possibly have gained by doing what you did? You know full well what fate awaits those who betray the government, do you not? Why help out a boy who you barely know? Haven't you realized by now that no matter how much you resist, people like _him_ only have one fate awaiting them?" Lucci persisted.

"What do you mean "people like _him_?". You think I'm stupid or something? Think I haven't met other criminals who've been in the same boat as him? He's not like those other "people" - the outlaws who I've met, he's a kid. And unlike those other lawbreakers who always end up receiving a punishment far harsher than they deserve, Luffy will get another chance at life. That's what I've made sure of." Kay said raising her voice.

She couldn't help but be angered by Lucci's question.

He didn't know Luffy. In his eyes, he was nothing but the son of an outlaw. That was Monkey D. Luffy. To hell that he was still just 14, to hell that he had done nothing but live on an island where he caused no trouble for the government his entire life.

Sure, _she_ couldn't claim to be a close friend of his either, but she at least knew he had done nothing to deserve _this... _

She'd seen him cry. She'd seen him be _guilty_ of something he wasn't even responsible for, which in itself was more than any other criminal she'd met could be proud to admit.

She turned away from her sleeping patient, meeting Lucci's blazing eyes with no fear.

"It's not people like _him_, but rather people like _you_ who are the sinful ones. Your hands have blood on them. Luffy's don't. And that's a true fact." Kay reasoned, her voice stern and her statement _not_ up for debate.

Lucci said nothing to her blabbering. But Kay could tell she was playing with fire…

Lucci's eyes were practically _screaming_ for blood, his body twitching for action, heck, even Hattori (the pigeon) was copying his wrathful features and looked like he was about to fly at her and poke her eyes out or something.

Lucci looked like he wanted to murder her right then and there. And nothing, really, would stop him from doing so if that's what he decided, but Kay couldn't tell if he was actually considering going through with it or not.

_Well, whatever was going through Lucci's head at the moment, Kay was fortunate enough to actually never find out. _

Just as the leopard Zoan user was about to take a step (probably leap at her, use his Shigan to poke into her heart and kill her if she had to take a lucky guess) the wood beneath them suddenly began… creaking… _alarmingly _loudly, almost as if something was… trying to break through from underneath…

Lucci and Kay alike turned their attention to the floorboards, momentarily forgetting their resentment as confusion overtook, and slowly, a slight amount of worry crept into Lucci's mind as well.

_For some reason, he was getting a very bad feeling about this..._

Suddenly, (as they had both feared) the planks between them gave in to the force pushing them from underneath, literally _shattering_ the floorboards and causing wood and nails to go flying all across the room.

Lucci was quick to jump back to safety, but Kay (who unfortunately did not have the reflexes of a super-human), wasn't quite as lucky and got hit in the face by numerous planks as she was sent tumbling backward, resulting in a very painful landing onto her butt and a wave of nausea which took a little while to fade away.

_As Lucci stood there, still slightly confused, his mind immediately concluded two things. And unfortunately, neither of them meant good news..._

1\. There was a person. A person, a _man_ was responsible for this. A man with a very familiar face - one Lucci was horrified to admit that he knew. He stood there, a mere 6 feet away from him, dripping wet, panting, but not as much a scratch to be spotted anywhere on his body.

2\. If he was here - if he had swum from wherever, broken through the bottom of their ship which would soon start sinking, and then continued to break his way through the layers until he'd reached them - for the very reason as Lucci feared, then he. was. _screwed._

'_Garp the fist…' _Lucci thought, finding himself unable to say the name aloud for some reason.

He felt his throat go completely dry. His body twitched - no, shook this time, his eyes grew wide and he found it impossible to look away from the marine-vice admiral's overwhelming figure. Drops of sweat rolled down his face, and with his petrified body, Lucci couldn't wipe them away.

_He..._ he_ was_ _**scared**__. Fear-struck. Because he knew he _knew _his strength was_ nothing _compared to a legend like Garp's. He couldn't fight. Nor could he run. _

"So… you're… Rob-Lucci…" Garp huffed, staring at the frozen without feeling even the slightest amount of remorse.

_His statement was no question. Merely words of relief for the vice-admiral. Relief that he had finally found the bastard responsible for all this crap._

The vice-admiral clenched his teeth, starting to ever so slowly stomp his way over to where Lucci was standing.

Kay watched the whole scene play out from the ground. Of course, she knew Garp too - he was even Luffy's grandfather to boot.

She hadn't actually ever actually spoken to the man but, she'd seen him at HQ… honestly, she had never believed _all _the myths and legends surrounding his nearly unrivaled strength, mind-shattering achievements, and outrageous personality. Some of it, yes, but he was still just a vice-admiral after all. _Surely_, there was no way it could all be true? _Right_?

_That's what she'd thought before, but for some reason, however, she felt that her opinion of him might change now…_

Her brows furrowed as the enraged man silently kept walking towards a petrified Lucci…

'_Hold on a minute he couldn't possibly want to…-'_

_***BAM!* **_

...

_One punch. One solid nicely landed punch straight to the face was all that was needed for Lucci to be sent flying. _

_And not just that… he crashed right through the infirmary's wall… and the next… and the next one after that… and even the fourth wall leading through Lucci's office. Then Lucci ran out of walls to crash through and instead came flying out onto the main deck. _

_But he kept flying. He was flung into the mast of the ship, though instead of being stopped by the obstacle in his way, the mast broke. In clean half in fact, and crashed over the side of the ship, breaking ropes and nearly crushing a poor group of marines who ran for their dear lives to get out of the way. _

_Only now did Lucci finally stop his 'flying,' falling to the ground and tumbling across the floor, only coming to a very quick and painful-looking stop when he rolled into the railing of the ship._

_That's where he laid. Unmoving. Dead perhaps, or at least Kay could hope that he was. _

Kay was speechless. She hadn't seen anything _this_ incredible for years. And what made it all the more satisfying was the fact that she was sure Garp (for some reason) had pulled his punch. It was so _damn_ fantastic to see Lucci be completely helpless like this - to see _him_ be the one to bleed, the one to suffer for a change.

_She liked Garp. _

"Hmp… _brat_…" The old vice-admiral snarled, cracking his knuckles.

Garp's anger had eased considerably after that, but he still didn't feel 100% satisfied. He knew he wouldn't ever be before he got to murder Lucci, and luckily, he'd managed to restrain himself from doing so in a single punch.

Lucci was tough (well... hopefully he was. Garp would hate for him to be dead with just a single punch). A fist of hate (the opposite to his fist of love) wouldn't kill him.

Suddenly, the man began walking again. Slowly, just like before, but still with his fists clenched and ready for some more action.

Kay watched him go, knowing very well that he was not done beating Lucci yet. That was fine, though, if he really wanted to kill him, she sure as hell wouldn't go out of her way to try (she'd probably be killed too) to stop him.

Judging from the damage his last attack had caused, she'd say it would only take one more punch for Lucci to be done for good. Hell, he was one lucky bastard if he escaped this without getting some permanent brain damage, even if he _was_ a superhuman.

"W-wait! P-please wait Garp-san, Rob Lucci-sama has had enough!"

"He c-can't even stand, p-please! Stop this!"

A laughably small amount of agents gathered around the enraged vice-admiral in a futile attempt at calming him and protecting their unconscious (yes, he was indeed knocked out) commander.

"I-if, if you're here to see your grandson, t-then I'm sorry to inform you i-it's too late. He's… he's already gone!"

_That was a sentence the agent probably should've expressed a little differently._

The agent's reckless use of words, however, succeeded in getting Garp to stop his assault against Lucci. He stopped dead in his track, his mind seemingly taking just a few seconds to actually realize what the agent had just told him.

"**What did you just say…?" **Garp asked, his voice _so_ angry - so _demonic _\- even Lucci surely would have shuddered in fear, much like how the agents currently were.

He suddenly roughly grabbed the agent who had foolish enough to have said this by his collar, lifting him at least 4 feet up into the air to force their eyes to meet.

"_Gone!?_ What do you mean he's _gone_?! I heard he was being transported here on this ship, very much still alive!"

_He swore to Oda, if they'd done anything to harm Luffy after all the messed up crap they'd already put him through, then this ship and everybody and everything on it was going _**down**_._

_Sure he beat Luffy a lot. Sure he yelled at him constantly and wanted him to become a marine against his own wishes. Sure he had left him to grow up with some mountain bandits on a danger-filled mountain..._

_But __he _did _care about him. He truly did. Currently more than ever thought he would. Luffy had been one of the last things that he still had. A buster call left nothing behind. No matter how much he wanted to deny that fact, he'd seen time and time_ _again just__ what absolute justice entailed._

_Only the ashes of what was once buildings, plants, animals, people… whatever the hell an island might hold of valuables,_ _remained..._

_Luffy and Ace were the only ones left. The only ones_ he_ still had left. __How the hell could he accept that Luffy was dead? How could he possibly have_ let_ Luffy die? __The words Luffy and dead did not belong in the same sentence for crying out loud! _

_And how could he tell Ace? Without his home - with everything and everyone_ _he'd left behind on Dawn Island gone, would he even have a reason to keep living anymore? _

_Garp knew how inconceivably little Ace cared about himself, so he'd go blaming this entire thing all on himself, just like _he _currently was. _

"N-no you've got it all wrong Garp-san! Your grandson's gone, yes, but that's because he _**escaped**_**!**" One of the agents cried out in hopes that their lives would now be spared.

…

_Garp froze, suddenly losing all strength and thus dropping the agent in his hand._

…

_What had he just said?_

* * *

**Poor Garp. Really, he just wanted to go beat Lucci to a pulp and visit poor little Luffy, but in the end, he ended up unintentionally making things worse. Kay's plan is kind of ruined now, since with Garp's arrival followed another battleship which has den-den mushi's that can in fact reach HQ, and thus also the Gorosei who are not gonna be pleased with this :(**

**Also, quick shout out to all the amazing new favorites and followers! Love you guys so freakin much 3! You're a great motivation to write faster and you help me think harder for the most exciting scenarios!**

**I don't really have a whole lot to say here at the end... Just that the next chapter will be a long one for sure, and probably the one I will personally come to like the most up until now ;)**

* * *

**Here are the replies to those of you who have left me reviews!**

**Guest: You are very welcome! It is my pleasure to write for you amazing folks since I am a die hard-fan for these types of fanfics XD. Also, do not fall off your chair, that is very dangerous! (But uh... still glad you found it exciting. More chapters even greater, however, are to be expected for the future, promise!)**

**PirateYonko: YES! I actually forgot to write that in the AN (oops). And that "I still have my crew!" scene just always shatters my heart into a million pieces, no matter how many times I re-read and rewatch it. And thank _you_ for taking the time to read my fanfic! I promise to do my best not to disappoint! **

**silverrayn123: I know, I'm really saddened by all this too. Unfortunately, Luffy's not done suffering _just_ yet ;.; (yes I'm horrible I know, but then when Ace comes into the picture, you can imagine what sh*t (sorry for the swear, it's not really my style, but no other word can realistically describe it) is gonna go down!)**

**Push23: Yes, I just now realized that I lied in my last AN when I said this chapter would provide an answer to Kay's fate. Sorry, that'll have to wait for the next one. And as to not much drama happened before Luffy gets to finally rush to Ace's arms and cry his heart out... well... I'm... just not gonna make any big promise that _nothing_ will happen... *looks the other way nervously***

**Luo: Really, there's a whole day of time difference before you can read it? Huh... I never knew. But I'm happy to know that you are willing to wait! **

**Magic Morgana: Thank you so so so so _so_ so much for your nice compliments! It really helps boost my confidence as an author :D! Also, you described it perfectly yourself... yes, Luffy's gonna lose just a bit of naivety (he's still gonna be a kid at the end of it, though) but he will not be OOC cause that is simply too tragic! And fear not! A chapter involving Shanks is to be released very soon (the next one or the one after that, in fact) and he and Luffy _will_ meet again, that's a promise! And I will not give up! I've dealt with writing really long stories before, but my reason for stopping is really never a burnout, more just that I find another thing I'd like to write about and begin another story, which is why I'm currently, only writing on one story at a time. Plus... all the support from you guys is really motivating too!**

**Sophia Mendes-Coruja: Glad the chapter was a good one. It was a little tedious to write, but I'm generally very happy with how it turned out! And yes, I have many exciting plans for things Luffy's gonna experience before the fated day where the two brothers reunite! As to Kay... well, just wait and see, next chapter for sure we'll learn of her fate. You go take care of yourself too Sophia, and I wish lots of good things to happen for you while I take my time getting another chapter out 3.**

**Updates can be expected within a week-ish amount of time.**

**_-Cookie_**


	9. AN-Urgent news

**Note: **

Hi everyone.

You might be a little bit confused by all of this, so I will start out by clarifying that I am not your usual author, but her sister (UserID: Shadow The Shattered Princess). I have news about our personal life, and how it's going to have effect on this story.

As you all hopefully know by now, Cookie has a difficult personal life, and has severe problems with her back and has been in and out of treatments and hospitals for the past while.

Without digging too much into detail, a problem was discovered on a recent test that was done.

Nothing life-threatening, but if not treated correctly, immediately and efficiently could have a lasting effect on her life going into adulthood. Tensions are high at home at the moment, and all of this has all of us (especially Cookie and our dad) stressed out of their minds.

_Cookie will, therefore, be going on hiatus. _

No one will be able to tell for how long, but I expect that all of you respect and understand that personal health comes before hobbies. We will be spending the next unknown amounts of months going to the hospital for treatment and surgeries.

Thank you to all of you readers who have kept Cookie happy and motivated about this story (this work has been her biggest passion for I don't even freaking know), and thank you all for understanding our troubles and why this story is being put on hold.

I should rely to you from Cookie that she is devastated about letting all down like this and feels guilty for everything, and that she hopes you can find it in your hearts to forgive her.

Supportive messages are highly appreciated, though please don't attack her with questions, this is a very rough time for all of us.

So for the (potentially) last time, thank you for reading and following the development of Beyond Blood.

_-Shadow. _


	10. Reactions are important you know

**"..."**

**I... don't really know what to say.**

**Really. _Thank you, guys._ Constantly going to and from the hospital for this past week or so was... tough. When I came home 2 days ago, the first thing I did was log onto my computer with the worst feeling of anxiety ever, because I had my sister write that AN, and I had no clue what kind of response to expect.**

** _But... what I saw was just... so overwhelming. Really. If there was a word stronger than thank you, that's what I'd forever tell you guys. You're... just so _goddamn_ amazing, can I just say that? _**

**Almost as if forgetting how tired I was and how much my back hurt after the long trips back and forth, I just suddenly got _pumped_, and the result is this! A whole new chapter! (How did that happen?)**

**...Sure, it... might be the shortest chapter yet, but, it's all I had time for because I'm going back for yet another week at the hospital for surgery tomorrow. Please just see this chapter as my promise to you to never quit despite how tough the times are! I WILL. NOT. GIVE. UP. I mean, how could I possibly, with peeps as wonderful as all you guys!? **

**So I'll still try to write whenever I'm home and have the time. Updates will still be slow, but... I promise I'll keep doing my best! XD**

**Again, thank you _thank you_ for your support, it's really just been the most amazing thing to happen ever since my back didn't hurt. (Love you _so_ much, and I'll certainly respond to every single one of you at the end!)**

_**Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :) **_

**And without further ado (whoops, looks like a rambled a little up here as I've sworn not too, go down to the bottom to read the rest :b) here it is!**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Reactions are important you know**

"So… that's what happened?"

The Gorosei turned silent to reflect on the many new troublesome pieces of information this recent update had given them. They were no pleasant news - as far from it as possible, that's for sure.

"Unfortunately, that's what the report said. And I have a ship full of injured officers who can confirm it all to be true," a nameless marine standing in the door - the unfortunate one whose job was to notify the Gorosei of the recent incident - affirmed as confidently as one could when in the presence of the most powerful and influential men to exist.

…

Silence.

While it wasn't uncommon for the five men to suddenly go quiet during a meeting, the current atmosphere was very unsettling.

The marine couldn't tell what exactly was going through the five elderly stars' heads, and their lack of words sure didn't help ease the unsettling feeling he got in his stomach.

While the Gorosei were by no means no fools who believed only fortune would ever come the government's way, there was a very clear cut line between bad news and news so upsetting even the most professional were bound to lose their composure eventually.

It took no genius to figure out which type of the two he was fortunate enough to have been tasked with delivering.

It took a full minute, but then finally one of the five elders, the oldest looking bald one wearing a white kimono, let out a sigh.

"We should have been prepared in case something like this happened... this is a complete catastrophe…"

The elder rubbed the bridge between his eyes, pushing up the rounded glasses covering his eyes by the motion.

Not surprisingly, none of the Gorosei were some to express much emotion. This kind of reaction only proved how truly disgracing the current circumstances were.

"The revolutionary army has been making alarming sets of waves as of lately… more and more countries outside of the marines' reach align themselves with that perpetual Dragon... His forces are undoubtedly growing stronger, and information is proving more difficult to uncover." Another one, the one with dreadlocks and a scar going across his eye summarised.

"That boy was the first potential weakness of Dragon's to be discovered thus far. Even if it was a gamble as to whether or not Dragon would actually come to his son's aid, we would have lost absolutely nothing by simply capturing and publicly executing the son of that despicable outlaw, even if that turned out to be the case." The bubbly elder with a mustache and birthmark continued as if reading his fellow elder's thoughts.

"We risked not sending in extra security even after the absurd amount of troops that were lost at Dawn Island to avoid catching any unwanted attention… to think that that exact precaution is what allowed him to escape is absolutely humiliating to the name of the World Government." The youngest looking one of the bunch continued.

"Indeed. We must use any means necessary to make sure he's recaptured immediately, dead or alive." The last remaining one, the tallest and long-haired man stated.

Even _if_, originally, the plan had been to make sure to take him kicking and still breathing at least. No matter if Dragon would even bat an eye to his son being in the clutches of the government, a corpse wasn't much good as leverage.

But still, he was simply too dangerous to be left running around freely. Dead was sure as _hell_ better than if by some miracle, he managed to get in contact with one of those _troublesome_ acquaintances of his.

"Understood sirs! We will have a wanted poster issued with due haste. With the entirety of the navy on his trail, he'll have nowhere to run and recovery is sure to be fast," The marine stepped in, knowing this was his time and place to interrupt.

The marines were everywhere after all. Any pirate could affirm that.

The Gorosei, however, barely even batted the saluting soldier an eye, though the looks they were sending him clearly showcased they were not fond of his suggestion.

"No. This is a job solely suited for the government's agencies. Not a single marine under the rank of vice-admiral must be allowed to get even a hint of any of this happening."

The marine found himself to be quite baffled by that order.

But… the navy's reach spread across more than 170 countries, plus a few unimportant unwealthy islands… across all the four blues, in Paradise, _and_ to the New world!

There was no power as almighty and world-wide as the marines. Not one.

"Par...pardon, good sirs?"

"Imagine the sheer panic and chaos that boy's existence would cause to the public should any rumors start going around. If they were to ever learn that we failed to exterminate a threat like him, the people would begin to lose their trust in not only the marines but also the government as an entirety."

"He's the son of the main opposer who still dares to stand against us. It goes without saying the government should be the ones to have his head."

"Besides, the dangers of the connections that..._ child_ has are limitless…"

Red-haired Shanks. A Yonko and supposedly, a man who had stayed on Dawn Island for long enough to have come to care about the now non-existent island. And that boy as well… apparently, their friendship was built around a promise entailing he would one day surpass the Yonko.

The thought was laughable as of right now, but a few years ahead… 5… or 10 maybe… the danger of such a promise would no longer be a mere fantasy.

Fire-first Ace, a pirate (given he was still a rookie, but an incredibly powerful one, unfortunately) and also a newly approved commander under Whitebeard.

Another Yonko who surely would take action simply if Ace asked him to, that they had learned after many times foolishly attacking his 'children', as he called them.

And of course, Monkey D. Dragon. Probably the biggest concern amongst the three.

The revolutionary army was a powerhouse when it came to collecting information. And with no clue as to what the man who was in control of it all might do if - no, scratch that, _when_ \- he was to learn of this, he was basically a wild card.

And, unfortunately, a powerful wild card at that.

"It'll be colossally problematic if even one of those parties were to take direct action against the government. A wanted poster, even if the bounty is small, would not fail to capture their attention…. that is a risk we simply cannot take."

"...Yes sirs I… understand," the marine agreed, now seeing the flaw in his logic.

Well, not like he had any other choice. There was simply no arguing the most powerful celestial dragons - at least not if he held any form of value for his own life.

"What is the current state of Rob Lucci? It would be troublesome and yet another risky move to summon the remaining members of Cipher Pohl 9 with their current crucial mission at Water 7…"

All eyes turned to the marine for an answer. A hesitant look from the man suggested that answer wouldn't be quite as positive as the Gorosei would like it to be.

"W-well, even the most recent of updates all declare he's yet to regain consciousness... The doctors are unsure of how long it will take for him to wake up… a few days at least - spanning up to a few weeks if he's really unlucky." The marine stuttered, not too fond of the bad news either.

The Gorosei grew silent once more as they let the troublesome news sink in. Obviously, they strongly disliked the idea of having to wait for his recovery.

"This is all that damned Garp's fault… even _if_ he's been serving the marine's for decades, this recent little stunt of his has caused us far more trouble than what can easily be accounted for."

"We can't forget about that other treacherous woman... She's been working diligently for the Cipher Pohl agencies for years at this point… none of us could have foreseen her betrayal."

"She deserves only the most horrid of punishments for the chaos she's stirred up… of course, she's already been restrained and is ready to be transferred at a second's notice… correct?"

The Gorosei turned his stern eyes back to the marine, expecting nothing but a yes as an answer.

This whole mess was already unfavorably enough for the government as it was, at least this much - taking care of a traitor who'd committed the ultimate crime - was still within their power, right?

"A-actually…" The marine began. Judging from his expression, that wasn't exactly the case.

"Don't tell me she was allowed to escape as well!?"

_God, they swore, if this report entailed just one more negative thing then..._

"N-no of course not good sirs! It's… she's… I mean, I'm… I'm sorry to report that… that she still managed to outsmart us in the end… she… took her own life by shooting herself with a gun she somehow got her hands on, all to avoid torture and questioning."

The marine lowered his head in shame. She got the easy way out, that he knew. With the government involved, there were, in fact, many fates worse than instant death.

Silence. It was very discomforting, though luckily, brief.

Another sigh was heard, but the marine didn't bother raising his head to see from whom.

"Well… if that's the case then there's simply to helping it… just do be sure to burn her corpse along with any other evidence of this incident ever occurring."

"And please ensure that the marines who were allowed to see the current state of the Cipher Pohl agency under no circumstances are to return to HQ. I'll leave the details up to you marines, of course."

"Yessir."

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

"Cheers men! To a successful voyage and the delicious food we can now eat because of it!" Laughed a certain carefree redhead for what was probably the twentieth-something time as of that evening.

Loud roars and a butt-load of cheering followed the captain's exclamation. They'd done this hundreds if not thousands of times at this point… they knew, that _that_ right there, was an indication that the party was now _on_.

The red-haired pirates were… an interesting bunch to say the least.

Sure, as the crew of a yonko, they still did pirate stuff… traveling the 6 seas, arriving at new islands - in and inhabited to do all kinds of fun stuff… crushing newbie crews who were lacking the smarts to know challenging a yonko was unwise…

They, by no means, were a bunch of pushovers (uh… duh?), although first-time impressions of the group could lead one to think otherwise...

They never ever plundered a town for no reason. Most of the time, people were very welcoming when you didn't burn their homes to the ground, sometimes even allowing them to enter their towns and do regular shopping whilst only being a_ little_ wary of them.

And that - no beasts that needed to be fought and barbequed or other pirates who needed to be defeated - meant more time for parties.

Aaahhh yes… how the red-haired crew could never get enough of those. Party in the morning, during midday, in the evening… they didn't need an excuse to either. Every single little good thing was worth throwing a party for, following their logic.

_If anybody had a problem with that, well... then they certainly would have a very hard time fitting in._

Yeah, they were pirates, but the crew would like to think of themselves as one of the more gentler ones. Like Whitebeard or ol' Roger.

The island they'd settled down on this time was small. Uninhabited. As usual, so they wouldn't bother anybody.

This, however, was definitely one of their less crazy parties… they'd brought a bunch of meat and, of course, immeasurable amounts of sake, but the decorations were lacking. Sure, there were a few bright paper lanterns every here and there, but that was about it. Pretty sloppy, yeah, but it would have to do for tonight.

Besides, the sky was clear, the stars were bright and all that. Who needed to waste time making decorations when you could simply stargaze anyway?

"Hey, captain, where're we headed off too next? I'd like to go someplace nice and cold after that last island… freakin place had damn volcanos…" A man somehow complained with his mouth already full of meat.

Shanks took a_ biiiiiiggg_ glug of his mug - impressively emptying it in seconds - before he even bothered looking at the complaining crewmember.

"Oh, I dunno… I figured we'd just head off in some random direction.. see where the wind takes us, y'know?"

_Aaaand the flush on his face proved those were the words of a soon to be drunken man. Man, you'd think after partying so much, Shank's alcohol tolerance would've gotten stronger, even if just a little..._

_But nope!_

"Captain. This is the New World, mind you. Even if it's the liquor speaking, that's a pretty stupid idea. We got that eternal pose at that last island, remember?" Benn Beckman, aka the vice-captain, aka the_ somewhat_ responsible one of the bunch suggested.

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that. GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Shanks laughed wholeheartedly like the big careless child that he was when party-mode was switched on.

Benn shook his head._ Of course._

_Man, unless something unexpected happened to intervene, this would be one looooooong party, the vice-captain could already feel._

_Not that that was a bad thing, though. It just meant tomorrow would be filled with headaches, throw up, complaints about the sun being too bright and all the crappy symptoms that followed partying too hard._

"Purururururururu…..pururururururururu….pururururururu…"

_Well, whaddya know, maybe Benn could foresee the future or something._

The ringing came from the den-den mushi placed conveniently on a makeshift table (it was really just an empty wooden box they'd carried from the ship). Huh, quite unusual. Not many had the guts to call a yonko personally.

Curiosity, as always, was too strong to resist for the redhead, though - so much so that he didn't mind they were in the middle of a lit party.

_'Wonder who would call me… maybe it's Makino, I haven't heard from her in a while.'_

He grinned at that, now too intrigued by_ that_ thought to possibly _not_ pick up.

"Hello, this is Red-haired Shanks speaking. To whom do I owe the pleasure of receiving a call out of the blue like this?" Shanks happily answered, raising his voice so nearby men would lower theirs.

"..."

The yonko's kind remark, however, was met by nothing but silence. No introduction or a "Hi Shanks, it's been a while?" to indicate it could possibly be somebody familiar.

He frowned, and as did other nearby listeners when many seconds passed without a word being uttered. Was it a prank then? Damn, that took balls of steel - no, _seastone_ even.

"Excuse me, but whoever you are, do you need something? We're in the middle of a party over here, and you're kind of impolitely interrupting."

Shanks lowered his voice just to make a point. Man, he hated getting half-serious in the middle of a party, and this was just a waste of time if nobody was gonna answer.

When, however, still nothing but silence sounded from the other end, Shanks's patience had been stretched to its limit, and the yonko prepared himself to end the call with the rude caller.

Of course, it could always be the navy pulling one of their usual traps… but why now though? Didn't they know by now that they couldn't just track their location, show up with a few dozen battleships and actually expect to win?

The redhead, however, was stopped dead in his tracks by a sudden unexpected voice:

**_"Monkey D. Luffy."_**

_The name alone instantly caused all members familiar with the boy to come to an abrupt halt, their bodies tensed - visibly, and from shock - and all attention was now directed to the phone in their just as surprised captain's hand._

_Almost as if a switch had been pressed, the party stopped, and everybody - no matter how drunk - did their best to keep quiet._

…

_**What** _had that unfamiliar voice just said? Luffy? As in, the same bouncy, joyous, small bundle of endless happiness they'd met at Dawn Island? Considering he said _Monkey D._ Luffy, there was, unfortunately, no mistaking it.

Although no words were said, the tensing atmosphere proved no members would take it lightly had something happened to that kid. His name was one to often be mentioned during their parties. No members, new or old, didn't know of him or in any form or way disliked him.

_They swore, had this mysterious caller done something to hurt him, then blood - and lots of it - would be spilled._

"Who is this? How do you know that name?"

All carelessness was now gone from Shanks's voice. He was by no means calm, but he tried to keep his voice that way.

All depending on if this stranger had ill or not so ill intentions, that could prove crucial - a means of life or death, even, if this turned out to be a negotiation or the like.

The unknown caller took their time answering. So much so that Shanks for a moment thought they weren't gonna.

"I-... well… it's… a long story. My name's Bogard. I'm the right-hand man of Garp the fist. The marine hero," The gruff voice replied, sounding almost…_ sad_ as he did so.

"Garp?"

Shanks's brows furrowed at the familiar name.

Well sure, he knew him. Personally even, he'd say. He had witnessed that monster fight his 'unrivaled' captain so many freaking times there were even points where he thought Roger might actually have lost to him.

Although, from what the rumors - on more than just a few occasions to boot - said, Garp really didn't like him… why have his sidekick call him now? And why have him mention his grandson?

The confusion was also written all over the faces of the crew. Though Yasopp, Benn, and Roo (aside from Shanks himself, of course) seemed the most fixated on receiving answers. They'd been the ones to grow closest to the kid after all, so it made perfect sense.

"And what could you possibly want from me? Has Garp finally decided to come hunt me down? Why are you the one to call me, though? Where's Garp?

"..."

_Silence once again. Man, Shanks was not starting to like this._

Shanks clutched the small piece of metal in his hands tighter to suppress the anger that he felt arising at an alarming rate. If this was a game of 'wait and be surprised!' then he feared his patience would prove too short to play along for long.

"... It's… Garp-san was… taken away to Impel Down... 24 hours ago… I'm afraid I can't get in contact with him if you wish to speak to him."

_And just like that, all frustration and impatience faded away, instead replaced by another overwhelming confusion._

What? Impel Down? But why? Wasn't Garp the hero of the marines? The one who 98% of all new recruits looked up to in awe? As some kind of idol? The one whose legacy was _legendary,_ an old geezer who almost served as the head of the marines, say aside from the fleet admiral himself?

What for? The marines would surely bat the government a suspicious eye for doing such a thing if those news were made public.

_Which meant that these news were confidential. And that nobody - yonko's especially, Shanks suspected - were supposed to know._

"Why are telling us this?" The man bluntly asked, not even bothering to hide the sheer confusion in his voice.

"It's an order."

"From who?"

"Garp himself. Before he was taken away."

"..."

_Ok, now it was Shanks's and the entirety of the red-haired crew's turn to turn silent, not one soul able to form words thanks to their racing minds._

Huh?

Garp - a marine - had told his most entrusted man to contact a yonko - on who he strongly disliked - solely to have him tell him some secret he surely wasn't supposed to know off?

...

_There just _had_ to be something more going on here…_

Bogard took advantage of their utter befuddlement, speaking now that he was certain he had caught their full attention:

"As much as it pains me, this call isn't supposed to be about Garp-san. Judging from your earlier change in voice when I mentioned Garp-san's grandson, I'd say you do in fact know him as investigation has proved?"

Brows were furrowed at that question.

Hold on, investigations?! What kind? And how was Luffy involved?

"What are you implying? Know that if you've done something to hurt Luffy, we, as the Red-haired pirates, will not hesitate to even go to _war_ against you marines, or sail the Red Force right to Impel Down to get to Garp the fist now that you conveniently have told us of his current whereabouts."

_Well, considering Garp was Luffy's grandpa, that was quite unlikely. Still, Bogard needed to know how serious they were willing to turn if their enemies by default (the marines) mentioned the name of their beloved kid with intent to harm him in any sort of way._

A few silent nods from the crew proved they all agreed - no words needed.

Shanks, though, was sure from Bogard's silence that if he had sat face-to-face with the man, he'd see him shake his head to deny their suspicions.

A sigh was suddenly heard from the other end…

"Don't worry. I assure you Garp-san only has the best of intentions towards his grandson."

_Relief like never before poured over the entire crew, easing their worries, even if just a little._

"However-"

_Nevermind. That one word caused hearts to start pumping just as uncontrollably - if not even louder and faster - as they had before._

"That boy is no longer safe… Garp-san surely fears for his grandson's life, but he's unable to do anything for him at the moment. He has nowhere to go… the government they… they_** called a Buster Call upon Dawn Island**_… all to find and retrieve him. The son of the revolutionary Dragon."

"..."

"..."

**_...What?_**

* * *

**Alright, alright, I feel like I have a little bit of explaining to do after I just suddenly decided to drop this. Here are the explanations I couldn't for the love of Oda get to fit into the chapter itself: **

**First off, yes, Kay is, in fact, dead. There's no "oh it happened 'off-screen' so it's not true!" kind of crap here. Sorry it just happened so casually... if anybody's really upset, I _can_ add a flashback in the next chapter :D**

**If anybody found Bogard's behavior to be unreasonable, know that he has his reasons for being as reluctant to talk as he was. Currently, Garp - his best and longest friend who he's known for many years - if in prison, and his fate is still unclear. I don't know about you, but I think it makes pretty good sense he doesn't feel _too_ too great to talk about him, in case things turn south.**

**And third, _why_ the hell _would_ Garp contact Shanks of all people? Well, he certainly has a reason. First, he does for the love of Oda _not_ want Ace to get involved in this by contacting Whitebeard. If the government begins to focus their attention just a little more on him, then chances are they'll discover Ace's true heritage too, and considering all the crap that's happened after just Luffy's dad was discovered, that's something he wants to avoid at _all_ cost. **

**So, you might ask, why not Dragon then? The government might not know whether or not he cares about Luffy, but Garp would, and he knows that he does. Well, to that I have basically 2 explanations, pick whichever one you prefer:**

**1\. He knows Dragon would find out regardless of whether or not he told him - maybe he already had. While he's in prison, there'd be no opportunity to talk to him and discuss what to do. Luffy's chances with the marines are already ruined after all, which means it would be purely Dragon's decision as to what would happen.**

**(Yeah, add onto this one if you have any more ideas XD)**

**2\. This also ties into why he picked Shanks off all people. Garp truly cares for Luffy. He wants the best, and as of now, what he's wanted for him - for Luffy to live the safest, with the marines - is no longer possible. _Now_ he can think of what Luffy would want. _He_ might hate Shanks for planting the idea of becoming a pirate into Luffy's head, but he knows Luffy thinks the world of him, and Shanks the same, which means Luffy _would_ be happy staying with him. He's never met his father, and possibly hates him right now for the crap his name alone has caused him. Plus, Shanks might be one of the only people strong enough to actually protect him.**

**If anybody _still_ doesn't feel one or both of those explanations are good enough, please leave a review of your ideas? This is really the best _my_ mind could think off :)**

**_Phew!_ Quite a lot, to write down here, but that just about does it... I think... I always seem to remember something I forgot after posting the chapters XD**

* * *

**And as promised, here are my answers:**

**Guest (Feb 8): I wish for a speedy recovery as well! Kisses to you for your patience, it's seriously a relief to know you're willing to wait :D**

**Asl lover: Well... I'm not gonna lie and say everything's rainbows and cookies but... it'll get better!... eventually :)**

**Whirly: _Thank you_. God, it means the world to me to know you guys are so patient with me! And you daydream about the future of fanfics while waiting for updates too!? I thought I was the only one XD (btw, promise you'll have something to look forward too)**

**firesword01: *Bow of gratitude for your willingness to wait*. And here's a smile, just for you: =D**

**PirateYonko: Thank you. I pray my recovery won't take long as well.**

**Greer123: I hope so too...**

**Imperatia: Well I've read your response personally, which is _so _sweet btw! No guilt... *bites lip* I'll try (promise!), but it's a little hard when all I can think of when I'm not in too much pain is this story and how excited I am to get back home to write XD...**

**Leia20: Really!? You do!? That feels amazing to know, I really try my best! And trust me, I too hope everything goes well and that I won't be stuck with a back that'll hurt forever XD Thanks a _lot_, I promise to fight with the support of you guys, my family, and friends so I can soon go back to school and have more time to do everything I wish! Bye for now, but I promise to be back! **

**Demon-night24: (Oh god, I hope the translator hasn't messed this up...) Thank you a bunch for your encouraging words. Really, I can't believe you went through the trouble of leaving a review, although you don't even speak English! Truly amazing! Hugs and cookies to you from Denmark! :D**

**Crypton89: I'm sad to hear about my health too. It sucks. But really? You _do_ think this story's great? I'm still just in 7th grade, so I certainly have a lot to improve on when it comes to writing a story... but I'll keep doing my best :D And really it means so so so so _so_ much (I don't even know how to describe it!) to know you're willing to wait. My back's gonna take away a lot of time, so chapters will be shorter until it (and it _will_!) gets better. Cookies to you for your support!**

**Guardian Hyren: I'm sorry to hear things aren't going well too :(... But thank you for your support! As promised, I'll fight my way through this! **

** Push23: Thank you. I _will!_**

**Guest (Feb 9): Really? You do? Kinda ironic, considering the dark tone of my fanfic XD, although, it's indescribably encouraging to hear nonetheless! I promise to do my best to recover quickly, 'cause then I'll be able to focus all attention on the story!**

**Myroina: _Thank _you! I hope I will be better soon as well! Great to know I can still somehow attract new readers XD, know that I'll do my best to keep the story exciting, despite the chapters might being a little shorter for a period! :D**

**Luo: I love you, can I just say that? Thanks for always leaving such sweet reviews, even if you'll have to wait to read new chapters. You're truly amazing! **

**Guest (also Feb 9): _Thank _you!**

**silverrayn123: BWAA! I hate this too! Really, I just want to be able to focus on writing! (it's been a passion of mine since I was 8, so it goes without saying I might be a little obsessed...XD) I don't want to worry too much though... things_ will_ get better eventually, but until then, I just feel like the luckiest girl alive to know you amazing folks are willing to wait for my stupid back to finally pull itself together :D**

**Princess Meria: Yessssss it's so goddamn annoying, right!? And oh, you're in college? Best of luck to you! I feel honored to know you're excited about the story. *Bows from gratitude.***

**Sophia Mendes-Coruja: (I already answered you personally but... you need a little spotlight here too for how amazing you are, and now I finally have the time to fully respond to you!) God... Sophia, I know I've said this before, but I love you. More than cookies. Really, it means the world to know you care this much! I pray as well for better times that _will_ surely come soon, and until then stay true to my words: rest, write when it's appropriate, and simply know you guys have my back so I can get finished quickly and resume full time-writing again soon. Kisses, and hugs, and cake for you for never ceasing to be the purest ray of light to come by and help ease my struggles! **

**Guest (Feb 13): You... think my fic's amazing? That is... so encouraging and so reliving! (I'm such a people pleaser sooo...) But do not give up hope! I certainly will not, and this fanfic will _not_ be discontinued because of my health! **

**AysaWolf: Uh uh! I see, so you've left a review after reading each individual chappie!? That's soo cool! And since you've gone through that much trouble, I'll answer to each one individually as well!**

**Chapter 1: Me: *sweats nervously* cough cough, well um... yeah, I know, they're the sweetest and absolute justice does, in fact, suck... so much it can, unfortunately, make anything possible... _cough cough..._**

**Chapter 2: Yes. HastagLoveForDadanAndTheBandits. And please don't cry Aysa! Need a hug?**

**Chapter 3: Oh oh... Well now I feel like a villain (then again, maybe I am considering how much fun I have writing this)... that chapter was (well kinda) just for the build-up, but you're *AHEM SPOILER* not wrong**** in your suspicions, I'm sad to say...**

**Chapter 4: That option for a hug is still open. I'll gladly send you some cookies or ice cream if that's gonna help too?**

**Chapter 5: Don't worry about being late, everybody, old or new, is 110% welcome to say their meaning regarding current or earlier occurrences in the story! I don't judge! I'm just a One piece fan who loves cookies and writes fanfics after all... and yeah, regarding that War of the best thing, I'm... actually just gonna keep quiet about it. It's One piece after all so... nothing's impossible if time proves it to be fitting... ;)**

**Chapter 6: Well... *ahem* I... don't mean to shatter anybody's hearts or anything..._ but..._**

**Chapter 9: ...Really? I'm just an author-chan doing her best to get out a story after all, so it's so so encouraging to get to hear you people really enjoy it! I... might not be at my best right now but... I _WILL_ be ok, you hear me!? And, of course, with so many people telling me to focus on my health, I can now maybe kinda relax and get this over with as quickly as possible! **

**But That doesn't mean I won't write at all while waiting... it only took 2 days to write this chapter after all sooooo... whenever there's time I _will_ be sitting by the computer and writing, so that (at least ever now and then) you guys will have something new to read!**

* * *

**_And that is all!_**

**Wow... I... never thought I'd use that much time just answering to reviews. *cries* I feel so lucky to have the support of you guys! Know that you've been heard and that I_ will_ see to my health as much as it's needed!**

**But I'm not gonna quit... and I won't sit by and do nothing while time passes by so this story doesn't progress when I _do_ have a few days at home every now and then, perfectly suited for writing. **

_**Know that I write not because it's a chore or because I feel that I should, but merely because there's a story I want to tell and I now know there are people actually looking forward to reading new chapters. **_

**I do it purely because I want to! No forcing myself, ok!?**

**Alright, with _all of this_, finally out of my system, let me just say thank you one last time. I... can't say exactly when the new chapter will be out, as I tomorrow will be back at the hospital (again, probably for another week or two), but know I _am_ writing whenever it's appropriate! Also, chapters might be a little shorter, considering my time and energy but, I promise to still have this story move forward despite that!**

_**I look forward to being able to release another new chapter.**_

_**-Cookie**_


	11. Nightmares and a fun game of tag

**Hi, I'm back. **

**Man, what's it been, like a month? Feels like it's been a loooooot longer with all the stuff that happened. C****ookies to all you amazing peeps who've been so supportive, I love you guys and you're my ray of sunshine in this dark hole of pain I'll be sure to overcome! ****Here's to quickly fill you in on what I've been busy dealing with:**

**_Surgery 1:_ Successful, yay! **

**I'll get my second one in 10 weeks or so, so that should mean there's (hopefully) finally a moment of peace! Even louder yay! That means I'll finally have the opportunity to write again :D!**

**_Physiotherapy:_ Slow... but I'm getting somewhere I feel! Or at least I can hope so XD**

**My physiotherapist is very sweet and always asks if I'm in pain if and can handle it, so she's very encouraging to help me do my best!**

**_Aftermath of surgery and reason it's been a month:_ It was stupid, I'll just come clean and say that. My stitches kept coming undone, so I was constantly bleeding and eventually, the wound got infected. I'm still on antibiotics, but finally feeling well enough to write again, which, let me tell you, was EXCRUCIATING to be stuck in bed while feeling sick all the time for so long when that's all I wanted to do! Writing and One piece is my life after all! DX **

**But that's all peaches and cream now, definitely muuuuch more tolerable. **

**Anyway, this chapter also took some time to write, but it's finally here! I wish... I could tell you it's the most exciting over the top worth-the-wait kind of chapter buuuuuut... I dunno, it at least takes half a turn in its tone, which was honestly kinda nice after all the crap I've already put poor Lu through XD (I-I swear! I'm not evil at all!)**

_**Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :) **_

**Enough said! ENJOY!**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Nightmares and a fun game of tag**

_Fire. _

_It was everywhere, towering above Luffy's miniature figure in massive inextinguishable pillars of mass destruction. _

_The 14-year old couldn't make out where he was supposed to be - that is if there even were any surroundings at all. _

_He'd been staggering forward through the sea of flames for what felt like ages, but the fire just kept burning brighter and brighter, and he seemed to get nowhere no matter how much he walked. _

_It hurt. So damn much. _

_The heat was real. Just as hot as Luffy remembered it being - even from that time with the Grey Terminal incident 7 freaking years ago. _

_His rubbery skin felt like it would literally start to melt away soon. The air was also hot. So hot every breath felt like the inhale was gonna burn him from the inside and make his lungs explode. _

_His heart was pounding painfully in his chest, his body screaming for rest, eyes teary, feet aching, head thumping, all the while his forearms were just about scorched because he'd been using them as protection for his face._

_Luffy hated the pain. But worst of all, he felt terrified, wandering through the hellish sea of flames like this._

_He'd watched flames just like these consume and devastate his home right before his eyes. The village. The forest. Even Mount Corvo and all those tough beasts he'd once hunted and cooked. Out of that, all that now remained was probably nothing but a big stinken' pile of ash. _

_He was helpless against the sheer destructiveness of fire. A puny rubber body was simply no good against it, no matter how much stronger his punches had become._

_And yet, despite his powerlessness, still he persisted. _

_Given his walking (if basically dragging his feet behind him could even be considered that) was slow and the flames surrounding him proved no confirmation that he was actually getting anywhere but…. he just… could not get himself to stop no matter how badly his body was pleading him too. _

_Ace. The thought of his brother was the only thing stopping him from dropping to the ground and let the flames take him as well. _

_His brother was out there. Somewhere. All he had to do was find him… then all the pain, all the tormenting memories, all the bad guys and the blood they'd forced on his hands would finally go away. _

_Or… at least, that was the slim hope Luffy clung on to for his dear life. _

"_ACE!" The 14-year old called as the top of his crumbling lungs. _

…

_Silence. _

_Not that Luffy had expected an answer in the first place. It was like the flames were even swallowing his cries, and with a voice already significantly weaker thanks to his lack of oxygen, there wasn't even much of a yell to be heard in the first place._

_He scanned his surroundings for any sign of… well, anything or anybody really, disappointed although not surprised when he failed to do so. _

_He truly did appear to be completely __**alone**_.

_..._

_..._

_..._

_NO! No giving up! Not yet!_

_Luffy wildly shook his head to shake off those stupid thoughts, next taking a deeeep painful breath of 100-degree hot air, filling his lungs for another shout, this time a little louder than before:_

"_ACE!" _

_A sudden burst of flames abruptly cut him off, causing Luffy to leap back at full power to avoid being turned into a gross mush of stinky burnt rubber. _

_His staggering balance, however, finally failed him, and he fell, butt first, onto the soft desert of ash making up the ground beneath him._

_Although he had avoided certain death, Luffy found himself unable to move at all as he sat there, staring with those far too familiar fear-written eyes of his into the horrifying glow of the flames. _

_His heart pounded so hard it felt like it was about to erupt from his chest… His breath was unsteady, body - mostly hands for some reason - trembling, sweat not just from the insufferable heat dripping from his forehead._

_Unfortunately, Luffy was no stranger to this stomach twisting dread. _

_But fear was just one of those things that, no matter how much you experienced it, just wouldn't go away no matter how badly Luffy wanted to not be scared. _

_He thought he'd long since overcome his childish fears from way back when he was still just a helpless little 7-year old kid whaling uncontrollably at any scary - and even the not as scary - sights or thoughts. _

_But right now, he felt just as vulnerable, just as helpless, as powerless and as damn cowardly as back then. And anybody who knew even the first thing about Luffy also knew those descriptions weren't supposed to define him._

'_Calm down Luffy. The flames don't hurt you unless you touch them. It's gonna be fine, it's gonna be fine… it's… gonna… be…-' _

…

_Wait just a second, what was that dark shadowy thing that he just saw move by the corners of his eyes?_

'_Fine?' _

_That last part came out as confused rather than reassuring. _

_Did… did he just imagine that? Or was that shadow actually… tall… wearing a hat… mostly bare-chested… like…_

_Like..._ _**Ace….?**_

_In the blink of an eye, all fatigue, all pain, all fear, terror, bad memories, feelings of hopelessness and vulnerability was lost as Luffy's reflexes kicked in and he with all the speed his weakened muscles could muster, spun around, feeling his heart practically come to a stop at what he saw._

_There, amidst the fury of flames, he stood. _

_**Ace**_.

_Luffy was far too overwhelmed with all kinds of different emotions to even know how to react. _

_Ace…! Ace! ACE! Please… _please _don't let this be some sick illusion! _

_But it wasn't. _

_Luffy blinked. Over and over and over and over again, in case the heat had just gotten to his head or something._

_But no matter how long he stared or how much he actually tried to get him to disappear, he wouldn't. _

_He. Was. Really. There. _

_He wanted to be so _so _happy, but he felt the tears might begin to swell up any second now. _

_He wanted to get up from the ash-covered ground, to run to him and hug him forever without ever letting go, but his body for some reason refused to listen to the order to move. _

_He should say something… - it didn't even seem like Ace had noticed him yet, and yet, his mouth failed to form even a single understandable word. _

_Honestly, he was too baffled to move at all. Which wasn't good, because suddenly Ace began walking. _

_Away from him. _

_Into the never-ending abyss of the dangerous and horribly malicious flames. _

_Feeling his eyes widen, panic immediately flushed away all Luffy's lesser concerns of how to approach the situation. _

"_ACE!" _

_Luffy shot up after his brother, but running in the ash was difficult and severely slowed him down, unfortunately. By the time he reached the spot Ace had been standing, he was already gone behind the barricade of flames. _

_Luffy stared into the light but it only made his eyes hurt. _

_There was no sign of Ace, and he hadn't heard his yell earlier. That meant he, unfortunately, only had one choice if he really wanted to see him, which, of course, was Luffy's only wish. _

_He gulped nervously thanks to the unwelcome feeling of hesitation that began stirring from within. Another new emotion he'd come to dislike. _

_No! Just a little more! Just one final push, and then everything would be over! He couldn't allow himself to give up 'cause of a little fire! Ace would call him weak again or yell at him for complaining - like that time with the Gray Terminal - if he did!_

_He clenched his fist before taking a few cautious steps backward. _

_The fear was still there, but his determination was stronger._

"_Yosh…. wait for me, Ace!" _

_And with that exclamation, Luffy took one deeeeeep painful breath before clenching his fists, taking 4 steps backward, and after one last glare at the barrier of flames separating him from his brother, courageously dashed forward at full speed - into the abyss of fire that Luffy damn well knew were gonna hurt like hell to pass through._

_And it did. _

_Although he mere moments ago would've doubted anything could ever get any hotter than he already had previously been, he'd been gravely mistaken with that assumption. _

_It was hot. It was indescribably painful. His skin might as well have been nonexistent since his actual _bones _were even afflicted by the heat. At least that's how it felt. And he nearly screamed because of it. _

_But the countless burns he received were far from what hurt the most. _

_This pain… this insufferable heat… these nightmarish flames… _this _right here had been what Dadan and many _many _others had felt in their last moments. _

_This was the way they had died. _This _had been the way they had died. _This _was the excruciating death _he _had brought upon them. They didn't deserve that. They hadn't deserved to feel all this _pain _goddammit!_

'_No! Don't think about that Luffy! Not now that he's this close! Just a little further and then you can finally see him!'_

_His torture was finally coming to an end. The fire was reaching its limit. _

_After a counted 3 seconds, he erupted from the fiery sea of flames, eyes still closed, body still burning up, heart still racing uncontrollably, but, he could finally ignore such insignificant details. _

_He'd done it._

_Although he needed a few seconds to recollect himself and get enough actual _air _into his lungs. _

_He stood bent over with his head turned to the ground as he lacked the strength to lift it, but the smile on his face would not have gone unnoticed had anybody been around to see it._

_Oh yeah, no mistaking _that _smile._

_Luffy took one last deep breath of the air, this time not even bothered by how it harmed his lungs._

"_ACE! I'm here! ACE! ACE I-"_

_As Luffy raised his dangling head, the sight with which he was met was __**not**_ _what he had expected. _

_His smile alongside all those happy emotions he for so long had been suppressing perished instantly once more._

_He flinched, barely believing his eyes were actually not playing some sick trick on him. _

"_Wh-what i-is this!?" Luffy cried with a voice barely audible, even to himself. _

_Before him laid an uncountable amount of __**bodies**__. Bloody… stinking… all… horribly familiar… _**dead** _bodies!_

_The bandits. The Villagers. Even some people from the Gray Terminal whom he recognized. There they were. Pools of blood underneath them, empty glassy expressions on their daunting faces. _

_It was too gruesome, even if he knew it was true. That everybody was dead. And that they really _had _met their end in such a disgusting manner. _

_He staggered backward, honestly very tempted with running back through the fire if it meant he could be spared from this sight. _

_Then the desperation came, causing him to grit his teeth. _

'_Why...!? Why this!? Why now!? Where's Ace!? Where did he go!? Why does everyone have to be dead like this! It's not fair! It's not-' _

_To Luffy's shock, his thoughts were abruptly interrupted as he felt a hand - a peculiarly cold one even - grab his ankle. Tightly. But even further twisting his stomach was who he saw when he turned to figure out who this person was. _

"_Makino!" _

_The straw-hatted boy crashed to his knees, unsure of how exactly to take care of the bruised woman._

_She looked just as battered as Luffy remembered her to have been. Bloody, covered in all sorts of bruises and cuts, most of which were probably hidden by her ripped clothes anyway, her hair a mess, breath stale and eyes nearly closed as a consequence of her beating. _

"_...Why…?" _

_Her question was barely a whisper, and the tone sounded too hoarse to belong to that sweet-hearted gentle woman Luffy held many fond memories off._

"_Why did this have to happen to me? Why Luffy…? What did I or Dadan-san and the others ever do to deserve any of this…?" _

"_Makino! I-I'm sorry… I really am! I… I tried my hardest… I really did! B-but I was too weak… I... I-I couldn't do anything to stop them!" _

"_Saying sorry… isn't gonna fix any of this… You… did this to us…" _

"_I-I didn't mean to…! I-I didn't know anything that those jerks were planning! I hate them!" _

"_So do I… But there's still no changing what's happened. It hurts Luffy, it _hurts _so much! They did this to us! All because of you… and your..._your lineage!_ If not for that…then we would all be fine and still alive… you did this…. to… us…" _

"_W-what?" _

_This was the first time Luffy had ever heard Makino talk like this. It wasn't like her. It wasn't right. She truly didn't feel this way about him… did she…?_

"_What… what do you mean…?" He hesitantly pleaded to know, horrified when she gave him no answer. _

"_Oi!"_

_He gently shook her still being, but still without any reply or even the slightest of a stir to prove she was still awake. _

_Luffy recognized that blank doll-like expression of hers. It was the face that still haunted him. The look of regret. The look of confusion and a stare directed straight at _him_, asking him 'why?'_

_He knew that look meant she was gone. But he didn't want to accept it. His mind _didn't _accept it. _

_It just couldn't be true, no matter how many times he recalled what happened and told himself that she was dead. Gone. __**Forever**_.

_A wetness spreading onto his hands, however, soon snapped him partially out of his thoughts. _

_His hands were trembling and barely responding as he lifted them up to figure out what the substance causing the wetness was..._

_**Blood.**_

_Makino's blood…_

_It was… all over his hands..._

* * *

_**O-o-O-o-O**_

* * *

Luffy's body shot forward as the sheer horror from the shock he'd just experienced forced his eyes to open and mind to return to reality.

For once in weeks, Luffy was glad he sat in complete darkness. His eyes appreciated not being overwhelmed like that first thing after a nightmare.

_A dream. Was that really _all _that hell he'd just went through had been?_

He was drenched in a freezing cold sweat. Again. And his breath was about as unstable as Ace's temper.

He sat for 10 seconds straight, gasping for air but, unfortunately, unable to regain much oxygen before he felt a dangerous twisting in his stomach and a sudden intense wave of nausea overwhelming him.

_Not good. The whirlpool in his tummy felt like it didn't want to stay put in there. _

The poor 14-year old slapped one of the bandage-covered hands across his mouth in an attempt to keep the content of his stomach _in_ his stomach.

Unfortunately, even that proved to be in vain as a few breaths later, Luffy threw up. All over the floor which his sleepy couldn't even see clearly yet.

The sight in itself was sad, but any stranger would be thrown back if Luffy were to tell them this was his first time puking.

What more was there to say? He'd just never been sick as a kid, and currently, he could only thank Oda for that. It felt disgusting and horrible and he just wanted that stinky chunky fluid to stop coming out of his mouth.

Why it was even happening Luffy didn't know, but he didn't even ponder it, as he was currently busy with focusing on not choking.

Apparently, it was also impossible to breathe when you vomited up the contents of your stomach. Ultimately, that meant he ended up panting even harder than before.

That aside, though, he strangely felt much _much _better now. The sickness was gone and his head felt delightfully clearer.

He wiped his mouth with his bandage wrapped arm, not even caring that the nasty and smelly throw up got all over it (he'd take off the damn things eventually anyway, so did it really matter in the end?).

The ship had stopped moving, he felt. But currently, his mind was too much of a wreck to care.

Luffy bit his lip. Again. Pictures flashed before his eyes. Again. Like always when he woke up. It was sorta his routine at this point.

'_It was really just a dream…?' _

The more of those kinds of nightmares he got, the more and more unsure he became of that...

At this point, he'd had so many dreams it was even hard remembering exactly what _had_ happened at Dawn Island and what was merely made up by his mind.

Previously, he could never even remember what the hell he dreamt about… just that presumably, it was always something good, because Ace and Sabo had told him time upon time again that he was just as uncontrollable and lively when he slept as when he didn't.

God how he missed that. Having Ace (and Sabo just as much, especially now) be there when he woke up. He'd never before realized to this extent _just_ the sort of comfort his two brothers had provided when they were younger.

They'd (although a bit reluctantly at times) allowed him to sleep with them when he had nightmares. They were there when he woke up or were the ones to wake him and to reassure him it was all fine and that it was all just a bad dream that wasn't real and wouldn't become real…

_Just the thought alone that that could never _ever _happen again was enough to want to make Luffy cry._

In fact, the familiar stinging in his eyes soon threatened to form tears at the bittersweet memories.

_Uh oh. That he couldn't allow to happen. He'd made a promise not to cry (that he'd done _plenty _off already!) - not even at this!_

As a last-minute save, Luffy shook his head wildly, momentarily shutting away any thoughts of Dawn Island, missing comfort, and a crippling feeling of vulnerability behind a brick wall where they couldn't reach him.

He should only worry about that stuff later! _After _finding Ace!

"Alright then! I better get going! No time to-"

Luffy cut himself off, only _now_ sensing something was _horribly _wrong. Or more specifically, that something was… _missing_. A certain item he'd gotten extremely comfortable wearing around his neck within the last few years.

_Shanks straw hat! I-it… IT WAS GONE!_

Panicking, Luffy stretched his hands to his back, feeling his heart drop all the way to his feet when he, true enough, felt nothing but empty air.

_B-but… BUT HOW IN THE NAME OF GOLD ROGER AND OTHER GREAT PIRATES COULD THAT POSSIBLY BE TRUE!? _

'_No, calm down Luffy! Think, when did you last have it?'_

Nervously, Luffy forced himself to sit in a comfortable position with his legs crossed.

Oh man… he wasn't very good at remembering stuff, but he had a faint memory of it still hanging around his neck when he'd fallen asleep…

But then what had happened? There was no wind down here to blow it away, and it's not like it could've just disappeared on its own. Unless Shank's straw hat had been a mystery straw hat all along, there was no way it could've just grown legs or arms and then gone off somewhere!

Luffy desperately began scanning the dark room for any sign of his precious hat. His eyes had just about adjusted themselves to the darkness, but considering the huge mess, spotting it probably wouldn't be that easy.

_Oh, how he prayed it was still around here somewhere… how could he possibly explain to Shanks that he'd last his straw hat? If he couldn't find it, would that mean their promise would be broken? _

_Was he really so incompetent that he couldn't even protect his friend's treasure long enough to hand it back…? _

_..._

_No! That… that just couldn't be true! His dream had barely begun… he couldn't start breaking promises already, or otherwise, he'd never be pirate king!_

Luckily for Luffy, though, his search ended before he had to ravage through the content of even a single box.

Now paying better attention to every nook and cranny of the compact throw-away room, he caught a glimpse of a small shadow swiftly hurrying to hide behind a stack of dusty crates.

This puzzled the 14-year old greatly, though simultaneously made his curiosity senses tingle to an extent where it was impossible to resist _not_ seeing what that mystery shadow was.

As he arose from the floor and lightly stepped around the massive puddle of throw up (which he was anything but proud off admitting had come from his belly) a small bundle of squeaks that had somehow gone unheard by Luffy before reached his ears.

_Alright…_

The boxes that thing had decided to hide behind all looked heavy… not that he doubted he couldn't move them, but maybe It would take up more time or effort than he could afford to lose.

What if that thing got away!? And he still couldn't see Shanks hat anywhere amongst the trash...

The stack was pretty tall too. Although that was an obstacle easily overcome as Luffy simply climbed onto the pyramid of crates, surprised by what he saw when he poke his head across.

Right there. Laying in a bundle of hair was one big cat - no wait, that big thing had a naked tail… well, rat then - snuggling. In _his_ straw hat.

Relief only matched by when he awoke from nightmares to the realization that they were non-existent washed over Luffy and showed up in a bright typical D smile - the first in a while, actually.

'_My hat!'_

Luffy stretched out his hand, easily reaching the hat despite the distance, turning it upside-down to shake out its furry inhabitant without a care that he was disturbing it.

The rat did _not_ seem pleased with the rough treatment just as it was getting comfortable, and after struggling a bit to regain its footing, let out its most intimidating hiss at its home-thief.

Despite the small furry beast's best attempts, though, it didn't seem to face Luffy in the slightest.

The rubber-kid, however, ignored the animal's attempt at threatening him in exchange for plopping the hat back onto his messy black hair. Where it belonged.

"Man, I was worried there for a second… just doesn't feel right without this!" Luffy smirked to himself, adjusting the hat so it would sit the most comfortably on his head and then turning his back on the still very much pissed cat-sized rat with the intention to leave this crappy room before more bad things would happen.

_That was a not so smart decision on Luffy's part._

The rat was enraged, and in a snap, had squished itself out from behind the pile of boxes, jumped at the unsuspected Luffy, and gorged its small razor-like teeth into his bare unprotected leg.

"OWIE! Hey, get off!"

Luffy shook his leg in an attempt to shake off the beast, but it reluctantly kept its grip and only dug further into Luffy's skin the more intensely he swung his leg.

Damn thing was persistent. And heavy. With every swing, it felt like a piece of his skin would be ripped off.

"Stupid rat! Fine, take this: Gomu gomu no Muchi!"

Luffy deliberately kicked one of the walls, squishing his attacker against the wooden surface and successfully getting it to let go.

As he retracted his leg, a thump indicated it fell to the floor, very conceivably unconscious or worse after taking such a hit.

Luffy himself remained standing, not even bothering to check the wound. Now that the weight was gone, it just stung slightly. Nothing to be worried about.

Well anyway, he better get back to finding that way out of-

"Hey… did you hear that?" A sudden voice sounded from above where Luffy knew the hatch leading down to his hiding place could be found and opened.

_Not good...! Somebody had heard him!_

"Kinda hard to miss such a ruckus… let's go check it out. Not even the rats make those kind'sa noises, even if the ship's practically drowning in 'em."

Although Luffy heard no answer from mystery guy number 1, approaching footsteps proved they sought to do just that.

_Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap! He needed to hide somewhere!_

Luffy frantically scouted the room. His options for hiding where surprisingly vast. The empty closet. The many piles of crates all taller than him. In one of the barrels that hopefully were empty.

He kept switching to and from one to another, unsure which spot to pick. He wasn't smart, so even if he wasn't under time pressure, such a choice was impossible to make wisely.

He finally managed to get his ass moving when the sound of a creaking door send him springing to the closet, nearly ripping off its doors as he as quietly possibly for a Luffy, opened, entered, and shut the damn things, thankful to find himself sitting in a completely empty closet, and for once not in some stinky/hot/cold/uncomfortable space.

From the single crack between the old splintered boards making up the wardrobe doors, Luffy watched as two men - _definitely_ pirates from what their shabby clothes, stubby beards, and strong stenches of alcohol told him - armed with a single candle climbed down into the darkness of the store-away room.

Without noticing, he began holding his breath.

'_Don't make a sound Luffy…' _

"Yuck, it totally reeks down here. You think the rats brought down some garbage or something?"

"They must've. Let's hurry this up, this room's hella creepy."

A nod from his partner confirmed that he absolutely agreed with that assessment.

The two began to inspect the room, though without touching any of the dust-coated junk and even took extra care to stay just a few extra steps further away from the stuff covered in cobwebs, since those things were very likely to be terribly infested with cripply spiders.

Luffy heard them (thanks to the ancient floorboards that were kind enough to creak under their weight) fumble around in the darkness. But their lack of words was unsettling.

He didn't know what they were thinking - if they had somehow already seen him and were in secret signaling to sneak up on him or something.

His vision was obnoxiously limited, which meant sound was all he really had to go off.

Suddenly, he heard their already slow steps come to a complete halt, in return causing his already racing heart to accelerate even faster.

"Ew! What… what in the hell is this stuff!?"

"Looks like someone threw up down here or something!"

_Uh oh._

"Probably just one of those nasty big rats, but still, _man_ that's disgusting!"

_Phew!_

"Damn straight… makes _me_ wanna puke."

The dude who said that slapped a hand across his mouth to dramatically make his point, even leaning against the nearest wall as if suddenly overcome by nausea.

"Dude, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just-"

The man suddenly cut himself off, for a reason Luffy couldn't see from his hiding place. The silence that followed didn't help ease his nerves.

"..."

"Oi… what… is this? A coat?"

_That statement caused Luffy to freeze. Oh no. Kay's jacket. He'd left it out there for them to find. _

"A coat? What's a thing like _this_ doing down here amongst all this other junk? It doesn't even look dirty or dusty like all other crap down here."

"No, that's not what I meant. Look… at the emblem sewed onto it."

A few short seconds of silence suggested the man did just that. There was a gasp, suggesting he _definitely_ recognized it and that it _definitely_ meant no good news.

"W-wait just one second… but… but that's the symbol of the World Government! Does that mean we've been followed ever since that attack 2 _days_ ago without noticing anything!?"

_Wait, two days!? Just for how long had Luff been sleeping!? No wait, that was beside the point!_

"This isn't good… we've gotta tell the captain straight away!"

"But the captain already went ashore along with the exploration team, remember? And he said only to use the den-den mushi in case of an emergency!"

"Idiot! I'd say this damn well classifies as one! C'mon, let's go!"

Luffy was internally panicking, just as much if not more than the pirates.

'_This is bad, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad, this is sooooo_ so _bad!'_

He knew he had to do something, or it wouldn't be long before the entire crew would know he was there!

They were once again within his line of sight, and through the crack, he could see them struggle to move as they attempted to hurry through the garbage.

He had to act. _Now_. No time to think about this!

Gritting his teeth, Luffy mustered up his strength, and in a single powerful leap, erupted from the closet (and nearly broke off the doors by doing so), flying straight towards the pirates who were beyond frightened by his emerge.

"Wh-what the!? A bra-"

The pirate didn't even get to finish his sentence before Luffy planted his fist nice and hard into his _and_ his partner's faces, leaving one with a bloody and possibly broken nose, and the other with a few teeth missing.

_Poor fools were unconscious before their bodies hit the ground... _

Luffy somehow managed to keep himself standing after this little surprise attack of his. Aside from his knuckles that were now throbbing severely yet again, that had been surprisingly easy.

He remained still, listening for any small indication from above that the ruckus had been heard by other bypassers.

Fortunately, that appeared to not be the case when a full minute flew by with the only sound preventing absolute silence being Luffy's own uneven breath and heart hammering against his chest.

_Yosh… now to find his way out of there..._

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

"So… d'you hear the rumor? The one about those nobles?"

"Nobles? Since when did they ever do anything aside from their usual we-are-superior-to-you-filthy-pieces-of-trash kinda crap interesting enough to start something like that?"

"Well, get this, apparently, the government's been working on setting up some island which an entire _kingdom's _worth of nobles are just suddenly gonna overthrow! And get this, nobody can seem to figure out where they've all come from! And it's not like they'd all suddenly just decide to move island... that would be far too big a waste of money for those stinking rich bastards."

"But that's…-"

"Hella suspicious, I know! There are already conspiracies suggesting the government's up to something…"

The pair continued to chat away thoughtlessly, ignorant of the small blind-passenger that was also (at least partly) listening in on their discussion.

Luffy watched them with no interest in their conversation and failing to listen further.

He'd managed to escape from the storage room undetected (thank Oda _something _finally went his way), but he had _then _quickly gotten himself lost in the hallways that, unfortunately, remained just as disorienting and absurdly confusing as Luffy could remember.

While cursing over the stupid corridors, another group of pirates had damn near walked in on him, had he not noticed how conveniently the roof of the ship was constructed.

The supportive planks were attached just a few feet _under_ the roof itself, leaving room for somebody small enough to crawl on their stomach without getting stuck.

Given, the space between the crossing planks was big enough for him to fall through, so he had to be careful. But as long as somebody didn't look directly up at him, he could possibly get all the way to an exit (he just had to find one) without even having to touch the ground or worrying about getting spotted.

Ha! If that wasn't genius, Luffy didn't know what was!

Currently, he was spying on two pirates walking directly underneath him. He'd kinda given up on trying to make sense of the damn place, so following those guys was his next best bet to getting out.

_Although so far, all they'd managed to do was to get into arguments..._

"I don't get you man. Why the fuss? So what if a few nobles move?"

"I'm telling you, it's no_t just a few_! We're talking a population bigger than what you'd find on an entire _island_ in the four blues!"

"So?"

"So that means something has happened that's forced them to move!"

"So?"

"So there could be something entirely different going on behind the scenes! Don't you wanna know more!?"

"Not really…"

The gibbering pirate didn't look impressed by his friend's inability to be excited like him.

"Geez man, you're more boring than an old geezer… alright, what about this one then: Red-haired Shanks - the _yonko _who happens to be _known_ for usually never causing any major trouble - has been wreaking absolute havoc to literally any marine base their ship's crossed paths with! I've heard a total of _3 _stations were absolutely _decimated_ just overnight! No survivors to be reported!"

_What! _

_That_ Luffy didn't fail to hear.

_Shanks had!? _

_He hadn't heard anything concerning Shanks since… forever! But… but Shanks was a real pirate…! The realest and strongest and greatest Luffy had ever met! He simply didn't do mindless killing, so why do this?! (Not that he felt bad for the marines. They worked _with _the government and while he wasn't gonna judge their organization as a whole just based on that, it was clear that at least some of them were also sincerely screwed up in the head since they wanted to work together with people evil enough to burn islands)._

_Could he possibly be lying? Or did Shanks have some good reason to, like, if one of his nakama had been in danger? _

The man's blabbering, unfortunately, hit Luffy by completely surprise just as he was at a crucial stage of safely crossing the planks. The result was that he failed to realize that he was placing his hand on the non-solid thin air, and by the laws of gravity, caused Luffy to plummet from his hiding spot.

_And standing unknowingly right in his path of fall was one of the pirates. The more grouchy one who'd been quick to dismiss anything his chipper friend had been jabbering about._

With a yelp, Luffy collided with the man who was forced to the ground from Luffy's weight.

The straw-hatted boys fall was broken and he was unhurt, but the man underneath him hadn't been quite as lucky... he'd been unprepared for the impact and had gotten his head knocked against the hard wooden boards beneath them.

In other much simpler words, he now laid unconscious.

_Uh oh._

The teen met the baffled eyes of the pirate who'd just seen his partner be struck down. He seemed much more confused by Luffy's sudden appearance than concerned for his fellow crewmate though.

_Blink blink_.

"Where the hell'd you come from?"

"Uhhh….. bye!"

Luffy, unsure of what else to do in these unfortunate set of circumstances, quickly arose from the limp body and ran forward in a random direction.

Getting lost was better than caught.

The man stared after the small child. He'd only gotten a short glance at him but it was pretty damn obvious he wasn't a part of their crew…

_3…_

_Wait, hold on, hadn't he fallen from the ceiling planks? Somebody his size could certainly_ hide _up there…_

_2…_

_The captain was away, meaning the crew was currently weakened and without a leader…_

_1…_

The pirate's mind snapped, as finally, he could see the consequences of his discovery.

Cursing under his own breath, he set into a sprint after the brat in the direction he'd seen him run. Dear lord… this was _not_ how he wanted to spend his Saturday morning!

"EVERYBODY ON GUARD! THERE'S A BRAT WHO'S INTRUDED THE SHIP! DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY! I REPEAT! THERE'S AN INTRUDER! WE'VE GOT AN INTRUDER WHO'S A KID! AND HE'S WEARING A STRAW HAT!"

Doors on left and right were opened as pirates emerged from their rooms from the commotion, alarmed and intrigued by this "intruder" who'd somehow snuck aboard.

Of course, as the prideful and strong pirates that they, in fact, were, they couldn't let some _kid _idiotic enough to invade their ship get away! The humiliation of not noticing earlier was already more than enough!

It took no time at all before all rooms were alerted and in on the chase. That meant bad news for Luffy; he couldn't even find his way around these damn hallways!

What sounded like a stampeding flock antelopes were now on his trail. The pirates' advantage, however, was solely in their numbers.

Luffy was a kid, yes, a kid with much shorter legs than a large majority of adults (the only exception Luffy knew of was Dogra), but despite his handicap he still vastly outsped them.

He might be crappy with directions, but running was one thing he was good at.

_Right, left, right, right again, and then straight!_ Luffy did his best to navigate through the hallways, but it didn't take long before his streak of lucky guessing ran out, and he was met with a wall of pirates blocking his path and ready to snatch him.

_And he was running too fast to stop!_

"Got you now you little troublemaker!"

A big burly and very _sturdy_ looking man attempted to grasp ahold of Luffy, but he was caught by surprise when instead of crashing straight into his widespread arms, Luffy slid underneath his massive legs, proving their barricade completely useless.

He didn't bother looking back to see what happened after that but a yell: "What are you doing, go after him!" strongly suggested they also joined the crazy flok hoarding together to catch him.

Luffy ignored the increasing steps from behind to stay concentrated on the path ahead.

Good call, because a second later, doors from both left and right burst open, and _whaddayaknow_, more pirates poured out of each one, attempting to nab him as he rushed past them.

This little strategy of theirs, however, proved to be no less successful than the previous, as Luffy was 1. small and difficult to get ahold off and 2. had the insane reflexes and flexibility to _somehow_ elude all their darndest attempts at getting grabbing something - an arm, a leg, even just that damn hat of his!

While the pirates' level of annoyance at their failing shots to capture just _one_ scrawny kid increased at a dangerously high paste, Luffy was having the time of his _life_, using his experience (he had the deceased beasts of Dawn Island to thank for this. Unironically, when you didn't want to die, you adapted quickly to constantly having your guard up and dodging) as an advantage to piss off the pirates.

And this was… actually kinda fun!

A grin snuck its way onto his face. All his preceding qualms and worries had dissolved completely, and now a long-thought gone playfulness and glee was basically radiating from him.

He simply couldn't get himself to take it seriously anymore… this certainly felt closer to a just fun game of tag rather than a life-or-death run for your life typa' chase.

The pirates tried to gather together in groups big enough to trap him in a cross-section, but they were unable to anticipate which direction the wild little runt was gonna go next and ultimately failed with that plot as well.

Luffy was really just running wherever… kicking down the pirates who got too close and having fun dodging incoming hands attempting to nab him. The hallways all looked the same, though, so could have been running in circles for all he knew.

This was such a great workout! Just what he needed after remaining still for so damn long!

After delivering a solid knee to the chin of some unfortunate particularly weak and boney pirate standing in his way, Luffy quickly sprung around another corner, overjoyed when instead of more endless hallways, a big _wooden_ door popped up instead.

His smile widened at the sight.

_That sure as hell looked like an exit if Luffy had ever seen one!_

"Hurry..! He's… already reached the entrance to the deck!"

"How the hell's he managed… *huff*... to outrun us all for this freaking long!?"

"No worries! He can't… *huff* huff* possibly open those doors on his-"

_*CRASH*_

_Well, that assumption was immediately proven to be false. _

True, having to stop and push open those doors would have probably taken more time than Luffy could afford to lose in his current situation, even with his massive lead against his pursuers who were all starting to look extremely drained.

But who needed to open doors anyway? If exits were inconvenient, then you could simply _make_ them convenient!

_And in this particular instance, that meant punching straight through the thick wood. Simple, right?_

Luffy instantly caught the attention of the very unprepared and confused crewmembers who, instantaneously to his break-out stopped with what they were doing, now staring speechless at the sight of a random _kid_ just suddenly breaking through their expensive door.

None of the dumbfounded on-watchers moved to take action against him though, so Luffy could safely ignore their stares and instead made a quick scan of his new surroundings.

It was bright. And so nice and damn _warm_ outside! The straw hat throwing shade across his eyes was probably the only thing preventing him from getting blinded.

The sun shined brighter than Luffy could remember it ever before doing before from a sky even more dazzling and clearer than the glimmering ocean softly rocking the ship in a very calm manner from below.

After being robbed of sights as beautiful as this one for a _hot_ while, Luffy would have certainly stood right there and admired it for longer had something different not diverted his attention.

A smile beyond comparison instinctively expanded across his face.

_Alright!_ He'd had no clue before now how he was supposed to make a clean getaway - he'd thought of maybe stealing a lifeboat and see then see where _that _would bring him - but that right there, just a gumo-gumo no Rocket away, that was an _island_!

Small and non-special looking with nothing about it standing out aside from the remarkably sizable buildings that littered it, much unlike what he'd heard about the exciting islands to be explored in the Grand Line from Shanks.

But hey, he wasn't gonna be picky about his islands after everything that had happened. He just prayed it had some good food at least...

'_Yosh! It's a little far, but I should be able to make it!'_'

Unfortunately, Luffy's genius plan would have to stay on hold for now as the 50-something (he hadn't stopped to count before but finally getting a good look at the bunch, he'd say 60 was probably a better estimate) pirates emerging from under deck, breathless, sweaty and most appearing to barely managing to keep themselves standing.

It was only _now_ Luffy finally cared to notice the impressive number of pirates that were spread about on the deck. He sweatdropped upon the realization their little game of tag would take an unfair turn in the pirates' favor.

"What are… *huff huff* you idiots doing!? *huff* CATCH THE DAMN BRAT!" A peculiarly red-faced man (could be from either exhaustion or embarrassment, Luffy couldn't' tell) commanded, pointing his finger at the straw-hatted kid and immediately forcing all eyes back on him.

_Uh oh._

After that order was delivered, it didn't take many seconds for the pirates to turn hostile looks at the 14-year old and to immediately bring out their weapons - some of which Luffy didn't even know how worked.

Luffy gulped at this (rubber was a great ability to have when came to dodging men trying to grab you, but it fared poorly when it came to protecting him from sharp objects). The boy turned around to run but found his path blocked by another horde of angry-looking pirates who Luffy somehow knew weren't gonna move out of the way even if he asked them nicely.

A quick 360 turn revealed the same to be true for his left and right side…

_That meant he was trapped! Not good! Not good!_

"Finally… you've got nowhere to run you little imp!"

"And to think we chased you around for over 15 minutes… the captain sure won't be happy if he hears about this!"

"Well, what are we supposed to do with im'?"

That exact question wasn't answered, but Luffy didn't like the unsettling smiles or giggles the group of pirates who'd wasted their morning chasing him around was giving him.

What they were planning was anything but pleasant, that much was guaranteed.

He nervously backed away from the most psychopathic-looking of the group, not wanting to stand anywhere _near_ those guys, when suddenly, he felt the sun get caught off from above.

When he turned his head to find the source of this, he stared directly up at the absolutely massive wooden pillar that was just one of the ship's gigantic sails.

_That made a _great _idea pop into Luffy's head. _

"Alright you little twerp, why don't you just surrender yourself peacefully now that it's finally clear that your chances of escaping are nonexistent? If you go down on your knees and beg we promise not to give you too many booboos." A pirate - this one wielding some kind of spiky club - mocked in a voice that was more suited for talking to a toddler rather than a 14-year old.

Luffy didn't look impressed by his taunt. Instead of getting even the slightest bit intimidated, Luffy smirked widely, mocking the guy back.

"Shishishishishishi! Nope! Not gonna do that!" He proclaimed, only smirking wider when, without even the slightest of awarning to prepare the pirates, Luffy stretched both his arms upwards and successfully got ahold of the edges of the crow's nest.

_Alright! And on his first try even!_

Of course this sudden reveal caused all pirates aboard to freeze due to shock. It wasn't their first time seeing a devil-fruit user, but children with fruits were certainly a rarity.

"What the hell is that?! Is his arm stretching?"

"Don't tell me that little runt had this all along! He didn't even use it when we chased him earlier!"

"Gomu-gumo no…"

"What's he doing? What's backing up like that gonna do?"

The pirates watched confused as Luffy stepped back further. He was up to something, that mischievous grin on his face proved it…

_Then, just a second too late, it all clicked._

"Grab him! Quick! Or else he's gonna-!"

"ROCKET!" The child roared, and forward he _flew_.

The pirates' jaws dropped to the floor as they stared with eyes denying that what were beholding was actually true.

He'd escaped. By _flinging _himself. How could they not have been prepared for that!? They should've just jumped at him while they had the chance! That little brat was gonna ruin their reputation if anybody ever found out they had failed to seize him! That was a plausibility that simply could not be allowed to come-

"Byeyouguysthanksalotforplayingitwasfun!" Came a last minute-shout from the dot in the distance that was Luffy, which the pirates were _sure_ was followed by a laugh despite not hearing one thanks to the distance.

_Just who the did that cheeky brat think he was!?_

* * *

**Aaaaaannd cut! Wow, I don't think I've felt this refreshed in a while... and you guys are all in luck! The next chapters will (well, at least on the surface XD) take a much more pleasant tone, so expect not _as_ much dark stuff!**

**...*cough* at least until it *cough*cough*, unfortunately, becomes a little necessary again O.O... (sowy~, although I can promise a happy ending!)**

**But that's... basically all I have to share with you guys for now! Onto the reviews, as per usual!**

* * *

**Demon-night24: (Oh god, I swear, if my translator messed this awesome long review up then I'm gonna...!) Glad you found it to be exciting! A few twists here and there always help raise the stakes and intensity, plus I find it absolutely thrilling to find out how you guys react to the unexpected! Also, lots of luck to you to become great at English! It's definitely a handy langue when you're on the internet a lot XD**

**Princess Meria: I am ecstatic to know you found the previous chapter enjoyable! But you've got me curious, what are some of your questions? I'll happily answer them unless they're too spoilery :D Also, hugs, cuddles, and affection accepted and sent right back at you, amazing reader!**

**Jubsie: Thanks a lot for the reassurance, it seriously helps my paranoia to know you guys have patience with me! And your words have been heard loud and clear dear reader. I'm as careful as possible right now because it'll suck if my stings go up AGAIN so I'll have to go back. No pushing. I'm just sitting here in my comfortable chair taking it nice and sloooowww so I also have the time to think of awesome ideas and twists for you enjoy! **

**AysaWolf: Thanks. Took me over an hour to fully get those two explanations to make sense XD. And note taken! I now have a semi-idea in my head of how to make this the cutest/saddest? story that my skills will allow me! And yeah, of course, I'll do my very best to stay healthy, you do too, ok? :D**

**kagome11: Thank you a million for you concern, I'll do my best! And I know, I debated for long if I should go that extra mile but in the end, decided yeah, which then evolved into another entire idea which is secret for spoiler reasons. And I _seriously_ can't wait for everybody reunions either! They're just gonna be so adorable and (well, hopefully?) worth the wait once the time _finally_ arrives!**

**cobalt eyes: Wait, I feel betrayed here, nurses give popsicles!? Jokes aside, they were all nice and very patient despite how often those damn stitches kept falling out! But oh god, I'm so sorry to hear your cousin had to go through that! I'll give her all my remaining cookies for fighting her way to recovery though, what an awesome girl! Thank you a _bunch_ for the story though, it's incredibly relieving to know I'm not fighting alone :) And really, I just try my best! I believe you can always improve in terms of writing, storytelling and such, and writing a lengthy fanfiction actually helps a lot with getting better I've found out! **

**Centipede996: Thanks! And here you go!**

**Luo: Your reviews are always extremely reassuring and amazing to receive. Thank you a lot, it's incredible to have such sweet people like you follow my progress :)**

**Guest: Thank you, good sir!... um ma'am? XD (Dunno which, but know I'm unconditionally grateful regardless!) **

** sui: Oh my goodness... _I_ feel moved to hear even a quiet reader, as you claim yourself to be, has gone through the trouble of reviewing! And I thank you eternally for your amazingly sweet words, I still remember receiving your specific review because it was a time where I was really in a lot of pain, so you have no clue how much it really cheered me up back then! You stay awesome too ok? Because I can tell you're also an incredible person from this! HUGS TO YOU! **

** silverrayn123: All the love to you too. **

**Asl lover: Happy to know I made _you_ happy! :D Fear not! Not many chapters remain before a certain some won't allow him to endure any more suffering! **

**Tsunoyo: (I'm using a translator, so _so_ sorry if it's so stupid as to mess up the translation!) Thanks for your words of encouragement! My heart sinks too, all the way to the bottom at the ocean when I go back to proof-read my own chapters and get to experience Luffy's pain for myself DX. But yeah, I think it's needless to explain that neither Whitebeard or Shanks will take any of this lightly... ;)**

**Kiiro no Akuma: First up, thumbs up for your English, it's pretty perfect if you ask me! Updates will hopefully be just a little faster with this short peaceful time, which I'm totally excited for! I don't at this moment know exactly how many more surgeries I'll have to go through, but I'm hopeful that it's soon gonna be over so all I'll have to do is finish rehab and then I can be done with all this back pain for (hopefully, I do not want to jinx it!) forever. XD :D**

**Greer123: Yes, the government is in quite the predicament, aren't they? But really, I feel it's a blessing to get to reply to so many of you! Just today, I've already spent over an hour simply replying to you, which I find is absolutely incredible! :D  
**

**Sophia Mendes-Coruja: Ahhhhhh! That sounds like it sucks! DX My sis hates school like the plague, which is at least one good side of having back pain (that I have very little homework and receive lectures from home hehe :) Kay's gone... may she rest in whatever the afterlife for One piece may be R.I.P, I had a lot of fun writing her while it lasted ): **

**But your compliments _seriously_ move me, Sophia! _You_ always bring sunshine to _my_ life, especially now. It's kind of ironic, though... I can bring forth so much excitement with a story this... *cough* dark, but doing so is gonna have the ultimate pay off which I'm totally HYPE for! XD But until next update KISSES AND HUGS TO AN AMAZING READER!**

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**That is all I can squish in to this chapter!**

**Updates can be expected relatively soon as long as my back plays nice**

_**-Cookie**_


	12. It's a journey, not an adventure

**Hiya you peeps! Gosh... has it... has it really already been over half a month once more!? Even though Cookie-chan promised you it wouldn't take too long...? **

***Sigh* I... don't have a single good excuse as to why that would be. I guess my main complaint, though, would be that because of the quarantine, the school's suddenly _bombarded_ me with stuff to do, forcing me to do homework until like, 7 in the evening. (But I do know other authors who work through even tougher school-circumstances, so all the respect to you guys!)**

**But SHOUTOUT TO MY AMAZING CO-WORKER/(mostly) BETA-READER, Sissy! (My older sister) She's made this chapter the best written one yet for certain, and without her, this thing would've still taken a day or two! **

**But yeah, because she's helped me so goddamn much, you guys might notice this chapter's written a little different because we have different written styles sooooo... yeah, that's why XD**

**OH! And also, you might experience some changes every here and there, such as the titles of the chapters or the rating of the story. (Yeeaaahhh... it's gotten a lot darker than I first realized XD ) Don't think too much about it, it's really just a bunch of nit-picks that have been annoying me for the last while - it's got absolutely nothing to do with the story itself! :D**

_**Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :) **_

**BUT ENOUGH HAS BEEN SAID! ENJOY:**

* * *

**Chapter 11: It's a journey, not an adventure**

Luffy stared with wide curious eyes at his intriguing surroundings. How could he possibly not? This was, horrible circumstances aside, still the first island ever aside from Dawn that he'd been to.

The streets he was strolling down along were all paved in cobblestone; expensive looking houses and shops selling expensive-looking merchandise everywhere around him.

Upon flying through the air, he'd been able to see that that was basically the case for the entire island. It was small, which meant it had just one town, and next to no trees to be spotted anywhere, really.

If anything, it reminded Luffy of High Town back at the Goa kingdom, except the people seemed a lot friendlier than all of those stuck-up nobles, and there… you know, wasn't exactly a giant junkyard casually laying on the edge, where all the outcasts with no money or social standing were forced to make a living.

Stellar Island, this place was called. That, Luffy had learned after a very intense crash-landing into the place's harbor, in which casual civilians had been screaming and running away as if there were pirates raiding the place… Luffy wasn't 100% sure, but maybe there was even an old man fainting somewhere amongst the crowd.

That, he'd apologized for. Oh, and for wrecking their dock, although the inhabitants didn't seem to have minded. Instead, his deranged entrance had merely earned him overly large amounts of concern and attention from the people flocking around him, and they were questioning if he was really ok even_ after_ he ensured them he wasn't in need of a doctor.

That had gotten _really_ annoying _really_ fast. He was fine - well, better now than 3 days ago if nothing - just _**starving**_ so damn much, even the well-trained dogs walking peacefully alongside their owners started looking quite tasty…

Unfortunately, the people at the harbor had given him bad directions. They'd told him just to just head straight but he had not yet seen a single place selling meat.

That meant that either 1. they had lied, which seemed unlike because they were so squeamishly nice 2. something was wrong and all food had mysteriously gone missing or 3. this town was bigger than he could imagine, and the food would come eventually if he just kept walking.

Luffy settled on option 3 as the most plausible, as the other 2 would be highly unfavorable for him. And it would be completely disastrous if all the food was gone - especially the meat!

_***GRUUUUUMMMBBBLLLLEEEEE***_

_Yup, food was a definite first._

Luffy sighed as he patted his painfully empty belly as it whined it in response. "..._Food~!..." _It almost spoke to him. He hadn't eaten for days… a reality he a month ago would have laughed at from the mere obscurity of the sound of it.

But wait a second, what exactly was he supposed to do afterward!? Where were the White-whatever pirates even right now? Was he even on the right track? Even in the right _ocean_? If not, then how did he get to where Ace was? Could he send him a letter?

Luffy optimistically pondered the idea, but then quickly realized the flaw in that plan.

_Oh, right. He didn't know how to write._

Ok, but then what? Was he supposed to just steal a ship and head off wherever and hope for the best?

…

_...Right, he couldn't navigate either. He'd end up at the bottom of the ocean before getting remotely close. _

The 14-year old sulked.

'_This is stupid! Why does tracking someone have to be so-!' _

_***GRUUUUMMMBBBLLLLLEEEE***_

A sudden intense wave of _excruciating hunger cut his mental struggle short. _His stomach cramped out in an agonizing wreck of nerves, knees weakening underneath him.

"Need… food…" Luffy uttered, weakly, rubbing his empty stomach as it groveled back in agreement.

He had no time to deal with all this practical stuff. Precious time was being wasted here. If he didn't find something to eat soon, then he would starve to death before anything!

Fortunately for the young rubber boy, his prayers for something to eat were quickly answered, a heavenly and delightfully fragrance reached his nose. Luffy instantly recognized the smell.

One word;

_Meat._

*****_**GRRUUUUUMMMBBBLLLLEEEE***_

Luffy couldn't keep himself from drooling at the thought of getting to gorge down on a big juicy steaming hot _delicious_ piece of meat. Without even realizing it, his body subconsciously began pulling itself towards the source, while he was too busy fantasizing about all the scrumptious food he was gonna feast on.

_Man, this was gonna be _soooooooo _good! Actually thinking back, aside from having slept his ass off for 2 full days, he hadn't even eaten a lot of food during his 'stay' on that marine ship… when _was _the last time, actually?_

…

_That Luffy couldn't remember._

'_That's alright though! All the more reason to hurry up and-'_

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

_A high-pitched scream (most probably from a woman) interrupted his daydreaming. _

Luffy stopped in his tracks, caught off guard by the sudden commotion. A big crowd of townsfolk had gathered up a few hundred meters ahead, but if that scream was anything to go by, it was supposedly for no good reason.

Luffy's brows furrowed.

"What's going on…?" He asked himself, innocently tilting his head in perplexment.

Incidentally for the rubber teen, the answer to his question came quicker than expected, when suddenly, a bunch of men (Luffy quickly counted there to be 3 in total) thrusted their way out through the mass of people in their way, all with very distressed looks displayed on their faces. They were carrying what (from the familiar sound of metal against metal) Luffy assumed to be big sacks of coins.

Not one of them looked nice, and unlike _all_ other residents on the entire island, their clothing looked unobtrusive (quite rag-like if he was being honest). The guns they were carrying certainly didn't help improve their overall impression.

"OI! HALT, YOU! YOU THIEVES WILL BE GREATLY MISTAKEN IF YOU THINK WE'LL ALLOW YOU TO ESCAPE!" A deep, masculine voice from somewhere amongst the crowd Luffy couldn't identify, angrily called out.

"Damn! The guards have already caught up to us! Whaddo' we do, boss?!" The man exclaimed, panicking.

The biggest and most perilous-looking of the group took a quick glance over his shoulders, spotting the crowd now clearing up to make way for a much bigger group of armed men.

"Just keep running, you damn fools! Anybody who falls or drops even a single coin will be left behind!"

The leader mouthed something that was very plausibly a curse, before frantically scanning his surroundings, looking like he was searching for something.

Luffy stood his ground as (for some reason incomprehensible to the unfortunate teen) people everywhere around him began warily maneuver to the edges of the streets, clearing a path, until he stood completely alone and exposed in the middle of the street.

_That_ was the moment he realized he was standing directly in the path of the thieves, and considering their speed, they'd soon be running right past him.

All four of the criminals seemed to have drawn similar conclusions. A crooked smile crept onto the ill-intending leader's ugly scarred mug, almost like a very sinister idea had just popped up in his head.

_Luffy did _not _like that look. _

"Oi, how nice of you to wait for us, kid! Help us out now, wontcha!?" He smirked, and before Luffy had the time to respond or move out of the way himself, the men had already surrounded him - one of them quick to securely wrap his bulky arms around Luffy's own muscle-lacking ones, and also placing his meaty hand over Luffy's mouth - just for good measure.

The reasonably sizable group of guards came to an abrupt stop when a gun was pointed at the 14-year olds head. The message was clear.

Onwatchers were also starting to whisper in an alarming set of voices, though any actual words were unclear to Luffy. Although clearly, nobody was calm about this situation, as the guards made especially apparent with the sweat starting to appear on their faces.

The only ones not looking to be on the verge of panicking were the thieves. And they seemed rather pleased with suddenly gaining authority like this.

The bandana-wearing grunt, whom Luffy by now concluded to be the leader, smirked in satisfaction before he suddenly aimed his gun upward and - with no warning whatsoever - fired off a deafening shot not aimed at anything or anyone in specific, though still managing to get a few screams out of some of the nervous ladies and children.

"Listen up y'all! If you wanna spare yourselves and those damn brats of yours from watching this kid's skull be blown to bits, _we'll_ be the ones controlling how we're leaving this damn place!" The leader announced.

Judging from the confidence in his voice, that threat was no bluff and everyone definitely understood that to the full extent.

Luffy, however, wasn't alarmed. In fact, he wasn't even intimidated. He'd been in far worse predicaments - threatened by far more dangerous people. These guys weren't all that strong (although not extraordinarily weak either), but with his unfortunate lack of nutrient, fighting them could prove a bigger pain in the ass than it had to be.

"Leave us in peace to get to the harbor where our ship's anchored. We'll need all the gold and treasure you sorry bunch can manage to fit on our boat! Defying that order or trying to intervene with our escape _will_ result in this innocent death!" Another fellow snarkily commanded.

None of the spectators looked pleased with such a request.

"Hey… can't you do something…!? Just think of that poor boy!" A young woman hugging a small 2-year old looking girl whisper-yelled to one of the guards, looking frightful.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we've no other choice…" The guard replied, looking just as distraught.

"We can't just blindly follow instructions! They could be lying and kill him anyway…!"

"That's just a risk we'll have to take… hostage situations are never easy!"

The guard took a quick look around at his colleagues, sending them a stern look. They all nodded in compliance, understanding their commander without even needed to be given an order, and then, still with no words said, they dropped their guns to the ground.

"Alright, we'll adhere to your demands. Just don't hurt the boy."

The guards all raised their hands, weapons falling to the ground with a thud, to further prove their submission, resulting in the thieves once again grinning at their obedience.

Luffy's eyes widened as he found himself astounded by the villagers' kindness. Not a single soul raised their hand in opposition to the guards' choice.

_These people were gonna allow themselves to be robbed just to save him! _

He was a stranger! They all for sure by now had noticed wasn't even from this damn place, if his tattered clothing and bandage-wrapped limbs didn't make _that _obvious enough!

The guard in command began shouting out instructions to his subordinates and any men with the strength to lift heavy cargo. Not many seconds passed before the men appointed to go claim and carry the gold began seeing to their assigned tasks.

_Not good!_ _Luffy__ couldn't allow this to happen!_

The teen immediately began struggling as that fact dawned on him.

"Wha-!? No! Don't you dare try to -! _gha_ man… you're… actually quite strong…!" The thug struggled against Luffy's resistance, but the straw hat-wearing boy wasn't planning to stop anytime soon. The thieves and bystanders alike watched in disbelief as Luffy's captor wrestled with the 14-year old and, despite his best efforts it seemed, still had a hard time not losing his grip.

"Oi! Stop that -!" One of the crooks yelled in annoyance, instantly leaping to his friend's aid and rubbing his gun in Luffy's face to intimidate him. "- just behave! Unless you wanna get your head blasted to bits!"

Luffy stared back at the goon at his lame attempt at intimidating him. Not that he doubted he wouldn't follow through, though.

_Heh, it was simply too bad such a threat meant nothing to someone made of rubber._

After his last attempt, though, Luffy had realized his strength was too drained to simply break free from the grasp of the man restraining him. Alright then, time to approach this with a different tactic…

The guy with the gun smirked as Luffy stopped stirring around, but he'd be far from correct in thinking he'd won, as suddenly, Luffy opened his mouth as far as his rubber cheeks allowed him and gorged down on the hand of the unfortunate fool idiotic enough to have placed it right on top of his lips.

The man's reaction was instant, as he with a pained cry let go of Luffy and stumbled back - his hand already bleeding quite a bit from the amount of force the teenager had used.

Luffy was quick to act now that he was finally free, and in a single powerful jump, leaped at gun-guy and delivered him a knee to the chin, ensuring his defeat and sending the poor man flying.

_That was one down._

"You little punk…! C'mere!" The other rando - the one with the bloody hand - madly snarled as he - empowered by rage, if that fierce look in his eyes told anything about his current mood - picked himself from the ground in an attempt to regain a hold of the rubber boy.

Fortunately for Luffy, the man's anger made his move very predictable. He effortlessly dodged his hands as he leaped to grab him, and then swiftly jumped and kicked the man in the head, ultimately leading the fool to a fate much similar to his comrade's.

_That was the other defeated._

With that, Luffy safely landed on the ground.

His breath was already nearly gone and black dots were forming in the corner of his eyes from the drain he had just cause on his already weakened body. He might've also been a little wobbly, but it wasn't enough to wreck his balance.

_Just as Luffy suspected. He felt so_ _tired_!_ He needed food! ASAP! If he couldn't handle fighting a few nobodies, then there'd be no way for him to-_

_***BAM***_

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Another woman let out a terrified shriek as suddenly, the fourth and forgotten runt (aka the leader) had taken it upon himself to resolve the chaos Luffy had managed to stir up by shooting the 14-year old straight in the shoulder.

The shot was aimed to not kill him, but much to the thief's horror, it didn't seem to have the paralyzing effect the man was hoping for.

No - upon impact, Luffy's skin _stretched_ backward- no blood, no wound, and the bullet was stopped in its track before any damage could be done to the boy's body.

"Wh-what!?"

"That doesn't…" Luffy uttered, faintly.

_Men women and children alike all held their breaths for a short second, realization dawning upon them._

"WORK ON ME!" Luffy roared, finally allowing the bullet to be averted and flung back at the petrified leader, just _barely_ grazing his cheek and leaving a small cut as it flew straight past him and into a wall somewhere closeby.

The man faltered. He knew his life damn well could have just ended. It had been a lucky miss. That's all.

"Y-you! _You_ ate a devil fruit...!" The man _stated_, well aware that was the only possible explanation for what had just happened.

"Yeah! And you scared me! Don't do that, I hate being scared like that!" Luffy argued back as if that was the problem at hand.

The villagers stared blankly at the scene before them, their minds still busy trying to figure out what the hell they'd just witnessed.

The kid certainly didn't _look_ like one of those big scary devil-fruit users like the pirates that used to come by and raid the island in the past. But whaddya, know, looks really _can_ be deceiving, as the saying goes.

The guard in command was the first to regain a grip.

"W-well!? What are you waiting for, men!? Arrest those criminals this instant before they can deal more harm to the civilians!" He commanded, sending his subordinates a quick sharp glance, as oh so many commanders often did when giving an order.

"...Y-yessir!" Came a somewhat delayed response a few seconds later, as the troops hurriedly rushed over to the fallen offenders to handcuff and take them away.

"Get off of me! Let me go!" The soul unscathed and conscious member of the gang complained as he was lifted off the ground and taken away in a direction Luffy had little clue where lead to.

"Alright everyone, you can all resume on with your days! There's nothing more to be seen!"

"I hope this hasn't been too much of an inconvenience to you all! Rest assured that the criminals _will_ face punishment, but please let us deal with the rest in peace!"

Some of the guards began yelling out stuff like that to the spectators around, trying to get them to leave the scene of crime. People seemed a bit reluctant and unwilling to at first, but eventually, the crowd ever so slowly began thinning out as people resumed with what they had previously been doing.

Luffy also thought this to be a great time to get a move on as well, but he didn't as much as take a single step as a few seconds later, he felt a hand gently place itself on his shoulder, causing him to flinch at the sudden touch. It didn't feel hostile though, so the boy immediately calmed back down and felt reassured once again.

As he turned around to see who the hand belonged to, he found himself to be staring directly into the face of the commander-guy of the guard squad.

He had an undeniably firm, yet remarkably soft expression on his face. He was calm - just a bit concerned for some reason, and that was perfectly clear in his voice as he spoke out to him.

"Hey there, kiddo. That was a real impressive display of strength just now," He praised, smiling gently. Luffy blinked, a bit confused by the compliment, but smiled (typical Luffy-fashion) nonetheless.

"Aha. Those guys were some jerks." Luffy grimaced despondent at the thought that those thugs would actually plunder people as nice as these. That, admittedly, got a small grin out of the guard.

"What's your name, kiddo?"

"Luffy!"

"Alright Luffy, those men didn't hurt you did they?" The man questioned, only _now_ attentively glancing over the 14-year olds' many many bandages.

_Damn… even if the hoodlums hadn't dealt any new injuries to him, his current ones certainly could deal him a great amount of pain after moving around like that…_

"Nope! I'm good!" Came an unnaturally chipper response from the boy, followed by another bright smile. That automatically made the guard calm down. At least he wasn't in any pain?

"Say, Luffy… are you all on your own? Where are your parents or guardian?" He uttered, concern plastered in his voice. The man raised an eyebrow worriedly, as he took another glance around at the spectators remaining, trying to decode if any of them were trying to flag his attention in order to reunite with the teen.

He found himself quite disappointed when that wasn't the case. His eyes fell back on Luffy, as he awaited from an answer from the teen.

The straw-hatted boy shrugged, his change of attitude immediately noticeable.

"I dunno… I don't know who my mom is, but my dad's apparently some dragon or something… the woman who used to look over me is… gone…"

That last part came out more like a mumble than anything, but he had understood the message, nonetheless.

_A touchy subject,_ the man concluded, shrugging off the 'my dad is a dragon' part of it. There was sure to be another explanation for that one, but it didn't sound like Luffy had ever met the man, so it wouldn't be worth it to ask further questions.

That, however, left him in a predicament. He had been right. And Luffy was really all alone, an orphan more or less, it seemed.

Sure, he had just proven to straight to his face that he had some skill with fighting, but the Grand Line was a dangerous sea for somebody to travel alone, much less a child!

The man's thoughts were very abruptly cut off when suddenly, Luffy's legs began wobbling dangerously. The straw-hatted teen suddenly lost all strength to stand and fell limply forward.

"Oi!" The guard quickly caught him before he could hit the ground.

"What's wrong!?"

The guard carefully shook the small boy, but received no answer from him regardless, only furthering his concerns. Some people in the background were even sending worried glances in the direction of the teen.

_Maybe it would be for the better if somebody called a doctor.. that kid looked like he should be in the hospital!_

The guard frantically looked around for one of his co-workers who could assist him with that, but before anything pointless could be said or done, a sound (one the guard certainly didn't expect) sounded from the smaller individual in his hands.

_*__**GRUUUUUUMMMBBBLLLEEEE***_

"Neeeeeeddd… foooooodddd…" Luffy very hoarsely moaned, desperation clear in his voice.

_Mystery solved. _

The guard couldn't help but stare at the small boy.

_Right. Of course. After fighting single-handedly against 3 men all bigger and stronger than himself, you'd think injuries and pain would take priority over eating. _

_Then again, he had absolutely no clue what Luffy had been through… he could've not eaten for a long time, be on the brink of starvation (the kid was awfully skinny after all) so maybe that was just him being silly._

"You… hungry…?" He asked, hesitant from disbelief rather than confusion.

A simple nod from Luffy answered that question.

"I'll be fine…! I just... need food!" Luffy reaffirmed, looking up at the guard with such pleading eyes the man felt his heart sink at the thought of turning away his request.

"Are you sure that's really all...? I can help you get to the hospital. Don't worry about paying the doctors there either. They don't charge children who have no money." He snickered, just for a second thinking of how ridiculous _that _would be.

Luffy, however, shook his head, humbly turning away the man's kindness.

He didn't have time to be in the hospital… and food was all the medicine he'd need, really. It was just the nausea getting the better of him.

With a bit of his regained strength, Luffy began pushing himself away from the man protectively holding him to once again stand on his own. The man looked like he wanted to complain, but didn't.

"I can't rest! There's somebody I just _have_ to find, no matter what!" The determination in his voice was unmistakable, and the clarification startled the guard. In a good way this time, though, cause this meant Luffy actually had someplace to go.

"And who might that be?" he questioned.

_This someone better be worth it._

"It's my older brother!"

"How much older…?"

"3 years. He's 17, 18 in just a few months."

"And you're sure you'll be alright staying with your brother? You'll be safe together with him?" Skeptical if this older brother of his would really be able to keep him safe, considering the predicament the kid was currently in.

Luffy sent the man a puzzled look at his need for him to tell him everything. Nobody had been this invested in his life for a long time…

_Ah well, that last question was easy to answer. Luffy liked questions like that._

"Of course I'll be safe with him! He's strong! Much stronger than me!" Luffy proclaimed proudly, hoping that assessment would convince the man to finally let him be on his way.

The guard's eyes narrowed as if judging if Luffy's words were safe to trust. He said nothing, though, so Luffy took that as a sign that he _did_.

"Oi! Sir Rick! We're just about done over here! Do the two of you need more time to talk or are you coming!?" One of the guards suddenly shouted, rudely interrupted the two.

"No, we're alright over here! You guys just go, I'll come in just _one_ second!" The commander shouted back to just subordinate.

The man simply nodded, obeying his commander's order; no questions asked.

Luffy saw the subordinate march over to the group of commending guards waiting for him nearby and watched them walk away, before directing his attention back to the guard- Rick apparently - standing right in front of him.

He was looking like there was something he _severely_ wanted to say but for some reason kept quiet about. It, however, didn't take many seconds of silence before another warm smile found its way onto the man's kind face.

"Although I'd like to get you to a doctor, I hold no authority above you to make that call. I will trust you if you say you're gonna be alright, but I _am_ gonna give you this…-"

The man reached inside his pockets, ruffing through them for a few seconds before finally making an expression that suggested he found what he'd been looking for.

"Here." He said, stretching out his hand.

"What this?"

"Money. 3 bills, 10,000 beli each. That makes 30,000 total."

"…"

"..."

"..."

"30,000 BELI!? I-I can't take that much!" Luffy looked down on the three pieces of paper in his hand. He'd never in his life held this much money at once.

"Don't say that. This town is fortunate enough to be just a little spoiled when it comes to riches, so any old civilian would carry around this quantity. Go on, use it to buy yourself some food. You'll even have money left afterward to be spent however you'd like."

The man winked slyly at the teen, ruffling his hair, and then quickly broke eye contact and began walking away to rejoin the rest of his comrades.

"Bye, Luffy! Don't be afraid to ask anyone for assistance if you run into any kind of problem! Everybody in this city will be more than willing to help you, that's guaranteed!"

_And with that promise, Rick the commander guard was gone, leaving Luffy alone with his 30,000 beli and an empty stomach that for sure was gonna complain if he didn't listen to the man and get himself some food-_

_***GRUUUUUUUUMMMBBBLLLLLEEEE***_

_-Pronto. _

Luffy desperately scouted the buildings up ahead, inwardly praying one of them was an inn or a restaurant or just _some _place with actual food. Fortunately, now that the horde of villagers had thinned out, that task became delightfully easy.

Unless Luffy's eyes were for some reason also not working, _that_ building right there, and the one beside it, and the one beside that - actually, just the whole street in general - were all food places if those signs hanging beside the doors were telling the truth.

A smile instinctively spread across his face.

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

"FOOOOOOOOOOODDDDD...!"

Luffy made his grand entrance by busting straight through the doors to the bar. That earned him some distraught looks from the customers currently occupying the place, almost as if they'd never seen a teen loudly exclaim his intentions when entering a public area.

…

_Ok, to their defense, they imaginably _had _not seen that before in a town like this._

Luffy ignored their stares- some even appeared delightfully surprised to see him, probably recognizing him as the kid who kicked ass mere minutes ago - and instead focused on the far more important stuff in front of him.

With a grin, he leaped to one of the seats right by the counter, making himself comfortable on the unexpectedly cozy bar-stools. _Those were probably expensive too, thus explaining the remarkably soft cushions. _

An old man currently occupied with drying a glass promptly noticed the small customer and put his work on hold to turn and greet him with a hospitable smile.

"Why hello there, and how can I possibly be of help to you on this wonderfully clear evening - ah, hold on a sec! You're the boy from the hostage-crisis just now!" The man realized, kinda slow.

"Aha, hey, Ossan, can you please please _please_ get me some food!? I'm-"

_***GRUUUUMMMMBBBLLLLEEEEE* **_

_..._

_Blink blink._

_-Starving,_ the man concluded from that reaction.

He couldn't help but grin. Well _duh_, people came to a bar because they were hungry after all!

"Well, of course! Good to see nothin' bad happened to ya', kid. I'll be right back!" The man promised, promptly making his way to some swinging doors Luffy assumed lead to the kitchen.

Luffy stared after him for no apparent reason aside from his impatience. He had never been one who liked to wait. And that trait hadn't magically been amended just because stuff had turned out the way it had.

He swung his feet (the stools weren't _that_ tall, but Luffy's feet still couldn't reach the ground…), feeling fidgety as always when forced to sit still and do literally nothing.

The short minutes it probably _really_ took for the food to arrive ticked away slowly. Luffy's only saving grace was the exhaustion preventing him from doing much except listen in on the neighboring customer's conversation.

That was surprisingly amusing. Apparently, some dude named Alex had accidentally forgotten his wife's wedding day and she had thrown him out of the house. And now, his friend, Simon, was doing his best to comfort the mourning ice-cream consuming man, unfortunately with no luck.

Luffy unconsciously became so engaged in their little chat that he didn't notice the food arriving before it was placed down right under his nose.

"Here ya go! A freshly grilled steak with mashed potatoes topped off with a bit of mama's secret sauce. Made 100% with love! " The old guy from before chipperly explained, proudly representing his dish.

Luffy didn't care much for its name or content - well maybe aside from the meat - because it just smelled freaking _delicious. _

'_It's not quite enough but ah well, I have the money to pay for more!' _

Not waiting even a millisecond longer, Luffy picked up the stake by hand (disregarding the fork and knife that the nice man had left laying beside the plate) to hound on it, earning him quite the look from the server and a few concerned customers.

_Not even three bites into it, however, Luffy felt something to be horribly wrong…_

"What's wrong? Doncha like it?" The older man politely asked, trying to hide the hurt in his voice.

Luffy provided the man no answer.

_Uhg,_ his stomach suddenly churned excessively and a surge of nausea suddenly hit him full force. The 14-year old clutched his twisting stomach in fear of throwing up for the second time that day.

"Feel… kinda sick…" Luffy described, doing his best to keep it down.

That explanation made the bartenders face twist into a grimace of worry.

"Well, not tryna be rude or anything, but you don't really look the brightest. I've probably seen animals with more meat on their bones than you… if you're as malnourished as you look, eating a lot really fast really ain't healthy. Try taking it slow, k? I'll go fetch'a a glass of water."

The man hurriedly rushed to the kitchen to do just that.

Luffy frowned, though.

_M-mal- malnour…? What now? What did that mean? That the food made him feel sick? _

'_But food is never bad! Why would it make me feel bad!?'_ Luffy mentally argued, not understanding even in the slightest.

A second later, the man came back with a glass of water in his hands which Luffy happily accepted and downed in just 4 big gulps.

"Feelin' better?"

"Uhn!" Luffy replied, having quickly averted back to normal. He began eating the delicious (cause it certainly _was_!) steak again, but slowly so his tummy could keep it _in_ his stomach, despite how excruciating it was to eat at a human-like pace.

"You know, you seem quite young to be all on your own. How old are ya, kid?" The bar owner inquired. It had been a question he'd wanted to ask ever since seeing him held in the dangerous grasp of that thief.

"I'm 14." Luffy casually answered.

"And what might one as young as _that_ be doing all on his own on a foreign island?"

'_And without supervision to boot...' _he mentally added.

That question seemed to spark something inside Luffy's head, judging the "_oh yeah!"_ expression suddenly popping up.

"That's right! Say, Ossan, do you know which crew Portgas D. Ace belongs too?!" Luffy pleaded, jumping straight to the point. His tone of voice changed drastically in a matter of seconds, and the man clearly felt his desperation.

"Portgas D. Ace you say?" He repeated, thoughtfully bringing his hand to his chin.

"Well... sure. That would… happen to be the Whitebeard pirates. But why do you need to know that?" He questioned, his voice containing a hint of…- was that suspicion..? Luffy couldn't tell and didn't care.

'_Whitebeard pirates.' _Luffy mentally repeated, burning the name into his memory so he wouldn't forget.

_Ah well, Whiteweird or Whiteear weren't _totally _off after all!_

"I just _have_ to find Ace! Please! It's really _reeeeaaallly_ important! Do you have any idea of where he might be?"

Luffy unknowingly stared straight at the man with his puppy-dog eyes. A smart move, though, even if it wasn't intentional because the man immediately became bombarded with guilt for the answer he was about to provide.

"No… sorry, that I wouldn't happen to know…" The man disgracefully admitted, looking away.

Luffy pouted, just as he was taking the last bite of his steak. Even if he knew there was nothing to do about it if the Ossan simply didn't know, it still sucked.

"B-but I _do_ know of somebody who might be able to help ya!"

"Really!? Who!?"

_Aaaaand just like that, happy Luffy returned._

"It's a good friend of mine, she lives just a few islands over, on a place called Fauna. I'm sure if you hitch a ride it'll be just a few days worth'a sailin' before you should reach it."

Luffy let the information sink in.

_Alright, understood! So if he went on a boat sailing to this "Fauna" place, then he'd be able to find some woman able to help him!_

_Although that meant it'd still be just a few days before he could reunite with Ace-_

"Excuse us..."

The unexpected voice greatly startled the thoughtful Luffy. As he (almost a little too bouncy) turned to look at the owner, he was met with the faces of three men. Their clothes weren't all fancy-schmancy either, and their faces and bodies had multiple visible scars.

_Foreigners, Luffy instantly concluded. _

"You guys need something?" The old man politely asked, on Luffy's behalf as well.

"Well, you see, my friends and I were just enjoying ourselves right over there, but we couldn't help but overhear that request you made, young man. You want to find Portgas D. Ace? Well, we actually happen to be accomplices of his, here on vacation." The guy in the middle explained with a nervous grin, probably also quite taken aback by the coincidence.

"REALLY!? You guys know Ace!?"

Luffy couldn't contain his happiness.

"Sure, we know him. We were actually about to head back to the Moby Dick after we finished this meal." Guy number 2 continued.

"Do you think I could come along!? Please! Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease_please!_ I promise it's really important!" Luffy _begged_, staring straight into the men's' souls.

However, before they could say either yes _or_ no, another voice cut in:

"Hold onto that request, kid. You guys, how do I know I can trustfully leave that boy with you? Where's ya proof what you're saying is true?" He questioned, batting each one of them an "_I don't trust you"_ kinda look.

"Come on Ossan! These guys say they know Ace! That means they can't be bad people!" Luffy reasoned, however only earning himself a saddened look from the man.

_He was still so trusting of people… _

"I'd like to agree with ya, but unfortunately, I've learned not to blindly trust people claiming to be pirates." He argued back, turning his glares back at the men.

The man in the middle completely disregarded his mean look and smiled calmly.

"Sure, no helping that. Not all pirates are worth putting your trust on, after all. Fortunately, we would happen to be some exceptions…" guy number 3 said as he suddenly began rolling up his sleeve.

A mark was revealed to be hiding under it. A skull with what Luffy assumed to be a white banana-thingy hanging under its nose. Strange, but although Luffy didn't recognize the mark, the old man clearly did, judging from his satisfied expression.

"That proof enough for you?"

"Yes."

The man was quick to cover it up again before anybody else would notice and cause panic to stir.

"So, does that mean I can go!?" Luffy eagerly asked, nearly jumping in his seat from excitement.

"Right, why don't we go right now?" Guy 1 asked, grinning from Luffy's adorable reaction to getting to go.

"Uhn!" Luffy agreed with a vivid nod, dropping down from his chair and legitimately just about to leave before remembering something in the last second.

'_Oh yeah!'_

"Ossan, how much for the meal? I can pay!" Luffy, for once, was able to admit. He stuck his hands into his pockets, about to fish out some money, but didn't get to do so when the old man rose his hand in protest.

"Ah, doncha' worry 'bout that. I couldn't possibly charge money from a kid. You just hold onto that."

Luffy stared blankly at him.

_But he really had the money this time! If he didn't spend at least a little of it here, he'd have just 30,000 Beli in his pockets he had no clue how to spend anyway. _

_Then again, he wasn't one to turn down free food…_

He tilted his head, conflicted about this small inconvenience.

"Are you sure you don't want it? I really _do_ have enough money-"

"Oi! Are you just gonna stand around and chat all evening!? We're going now! If you really wanna tag along now'd be the time!" A voice Luffy recognized to belong to one of the guys called out from the entrance.

"Ah-! I have to go! Bye nice Ossan, thanks for the food!"

And with that quick goodbye, Luffy nimbly hurried over to his new pirate friends, leaving a satisfied old man and a half-eaten plate of food behind.

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

As soon as they stepped outside, Luffy was immediately taken aback by two surprising discoveries.

1\. It was already night time, although the many golden - wait, _golden_!? this place really was loaded, wasn't it? - streets lights kept the streets nicely illuminated.

2\. The exact shops, pathways, markets, and roads that had formerly been swarming with townsfolk were now left completely desolated, resulting in a silence that felt kind of off-putting, considering the liveliness there had been during the daily hours.

People had all retired to their homes, and on the other side of nearly all the lit-up windows, sat a happy family around a dining table, all of them too occupied to even spare the group that swiftly prompted to make their way forward under the cover of the night a glance.

Luffy didn't mind the silence, if the streets could even be considered silent, with his constant giggles and small laughs. He just couldn't help it. After all, he was on his way. Really walking alongside Ace's comrades! He was almost there! So close he could taste it!

(Or was it just the aftertaste of that delicious steak…? Well, whatever!)

Things were finally looking up, he would get to see Ace soon! He would finally be safe, finally not have to live like this anymore, and everything would finally begin to be okay again!

The mere thought of how nice that would be, of how much he missed having something like that was enough for Luffy to wish that they could walk just a little bit faster - run maybe. Though he decided against it, these nice people were gonna take him to Ace, he could wait just a little bit longer!

Suddenly, though, as Luffy was absent-minded, a hand tightly clutched onto his shoulder, stopping him from walking any further. He was caught by surprise but wasn't in the least worried.

He glanced over his shoulder, eyes meeting with guy number 3, a wide grin spreading across the individual's face.

"Not that way, little guy. Since we _are_ pirates, our boat's not docked along with all the citizens' at the harbor. The guards would confiscate it."

He pointed into a dark sinister looking alleyway, which Luffy had been just about to pass by.

"Let's head this way. Unless you wanna circle around the entire island, this is the fastest route," guy 1 explained, also smirking widely.

Luffy nodded, understandingly. Of course, that made sense!

The group took the turn, heading straight into the nearly pitch-black passageway. If not for the moon gleaming brightly above them from the cloudless night-sky, their surroundings would've undoubtedly have been shredded in total darkness.

Luffy walked behind the group, just barely able to make out their silhouettes in front of him.

For some strange reason, he began feeling really uncomfortable.

But why…? He was together with Ace's nakama after all! He had absolutely nothing to worry about! In fact, things would only start looking up from now on!

…

_But still, he couldn't seem to shake the sensation of something being severely wrong. _

Luffy soon came to regret not being a bit faster to listen to his instincts.

All of a sudden, a piece of cloth was forcefully tied around his mouth - silencing his confused cries as a strong force hit him in the back and forced him to the ground.

"_MHHHHMP_!"

Luffy instantly fought to get whatever was weighing him down off his back. His stomach scar began throbbing painfully from the pressure, but Luffy ignored it in order to fight harder.

_What was going on!? Who was attacking them!? Where were Ace's nakama!? Why weren't they doing something!? Had they been separated in the dark...? With his head pressed against the cold cobblestone, Luffy couldn't see them any longer._

"O-oi! What are you idiots standing around for!? Come help!" A voice he recognized from earlier yelled out, but to whom?

Immediately, Luffy heard tapping - the sound of a _large _number of people rushing from every direction, headed directly towards him. Suddenly, multiple hands were restraining both his legs and arms, rendering him completely immobile.

His struggling intensified, but in vain with the many people now on top of him.

"_**Target restrained**__! _Quick! Somebody bring a set of seastone handcuffs! We can't hold him for long!_" _A sudden chilling voice commanded.

_Those orders caused Luffy's blood to run cold and his body to freeze. _

He only knew one group of people who talked like that. _One_ group that would go to these lengths if it meant capturing, retrieving, and securing _him_.

Suddenly, breaking free became 110% more _crucial._ If he didn't… well, Luffy damn well knew what would happen if he didn't.

He fought - thrusted around under the men's weight with all his might, wiggled, kicked, gave those stupid jerks elbows directly into their chins - and if not for the cloth he certainly would have bitten their tainted dirty fingers as well!

"W-whoa!"

"Hold him! Hold him!"

But the adult men's' efforts soon proved to be unsuccessful in keeping a beast like Luffy pinned to the ground. With a single massive push, the agents were all thrown off, and Luffy was free to hurriedly leap to his feet.

He was disorientated, and hesitated for just a second before hurrying in the opposite direction (or at least he hoped it was…) as he and Ace's nakama had entered, but, unfortunately, strong arms wrapped themselves around his own and stopped him before he got anywhere.

With his head finally free, however, Luffy took a quick glance at the bastard responsib...le… f...f… for…-

_W-wh...what!?_

As Luffy's attention was diverted, a pair of seastone cuffs were promptly locked around his wrists, causing the boy to fall limply in his captor's arms his strength left him.

"...God… finally…!" One of the Cipher Pohl agents cried in relief, lessening the tension amongst the group.

_Luffy stared. Stared with wide horror-struck at his detainer. _

"Good job, you three. We managed to avoid a catastrophe only thanks to your success!"

"Here, we'll be able to get a much safer grip on him."

"Thanks, much appreciated."

_Luffy felt somebody else - two agents, grab both of his arms tightly and drag him a small distance backward. He didn't care for that, though. _

_Why? Why why why why why _why _**WHY!? **__Why were Ace's nakama standing there, _**helping** _these jerkasses!? Ace couldn't possibly have nakama like these! He couldn't possibly trust guys like them! Who'd sell out others! Who'd trick him even after he revealed to them that he knew Ace!_

One of the three impersonators noticed Luffy's lost expression.

"What's wrong, Monkey D. Luffy? Did we really manage to fool you that well?"

The man smiled obnoxiously, taunting him. At that moment, Luffy wanted nothing more than to punch him straight in that ugly mug of his.

"Of course, it was all just a lie. What? Did you seriously think the Whitebeard pirates would just so _happen_ to be nearby, ready to take you in and protect you? Getting a fake tattoo was simply a requirement for this mission. A small sacrifice any of us would happily make if it meant we could instantly gain your trust! Devils' children might have the devil's luck, but this is definitely the end for you and that despicable father of yours!"

_Luffy's eyes grey wide once more._

_Fakes…? But… but that meant those guys didn't know Ace at all! They had lied! THEY HAD LIED ABOUT KNOWING HIM! They'd gotten his hopes up for absolutely no reason, and now, he was going to be caught again! _

"Call Sir Spandam this instant and inform him that the mission has been accomplished without any complications!" Somebody called out.

"Yessir, this instant, sir!"

A den-den mushi was pulled out, a number Luffy didn't care to look at, dialed, and soon, the familiar _purupurupurupurupurup _sounded. Before many moments had passed, a "gacha!" from the snail indicated whoever the agents were calling had received and picked up on the other end.

"Chief Spandam here. You idiots damn better have nothing but good news, or I'll have you executed for failing me again!"

_The voice on the other end sounded impatient and bratty. Like a child - more so than the commander of the heartless organization who'd caused the destruction on an entire island._

"N-no! F-fortunately, I can report with confidence that the mission was a success! Monkey D. Luffy has been recovered without fail!"

"..._Really_!?" (The voice sounded surprised and disturbingly excited at the same time).

_Luffy instantly felt the anger begin to arise at a dangerously quick rate as more and more realization poured over him. His eyes of terror, soon replaced by an absolutely fuming glare, were directed straight at those traitors, completely ignoring the conversation about him._

_It didn't take long before those emotions became impossible to detain._

"MHHHHHHMMMMPPPP! MHHHH! _MHHHHH! MHHHHHHP! MHHHHHHPPPPHHHMMMM!_"

_Fight. Break free. Make those guys pay! Escape. Get away. Don't let things end here!_

_Those were all thoughts pumping through Luffy's mind as he snapped and began resisting with full force once again, not paying his wounds any mind._

"O-oi!"

"Stop that! You've already been apprehended, don't you get that resistance is futile!?"

Luffy's moves were much ineffectual and sluggish with the seastone, so much that although he was fighting with all his rage, adrenaline pumping throughout his vessels, the two agents didn't struggle too much to keep him restrained.

_Luffy was blinded by his wrath. By the hurt. By the ultimate feeling of betrayal that, if not for his anger, could probably bring him to tears. _

_They'd gotten his hopes up._

_They'd gotten to him while he was enjoying himself and eating peacefully, completely minding his own business. _

_And then, they'd torn away any and all that confidence… optimism, faith - ambition, his belief that he could still do this, his opportunity to even keep_ **trying**_. Those guys were taking everything… and whether or not Luffy wanted it to dwindle, his trust in others would never be the same as before. _

"Stop him! Pin him to the ground or something!" an agent sounding incredibly concerned for the boy's escape yelled, plausibly from his desperation to prevent it.

The men wrestling with the teen, however, seemed to find that to be a perfectly applicable solution, and in a single strong push, thrusted the boy onto the dirty cobblestone once again, greatly reducing his movement.

_No good. Luffy just couldn't do it. He couldn't escape. Not like this._

"Oi! What's happening over there!?" The Spandam guy worriedly blurted out, scared his incompetent subordinates _somehow_ had managed to fail him yet again.

"It's nothing S-sir. We're just experiencing a bit of resistance is all. He's a real fighter, even if it's futile at this stage."

_The explanation was met_ _by a daunting silence from the other end of the communication snail. Suddenly, however, an eerie smile crept onto the den-den's face, implying the man talking on the other end was, in fact, doing the same._

"Oh, I see…. Oi! Let me speak a word or two to the brat!"

"Wh-what?"

"JUST SHUT UP AND LET ME! DON'T YOU DARE TALK BACK TO ME!"

"Y-yessir!"

The small den-den mushi was quickly positioned on the ground, right in front of Luffy's head where he could actually see it.

"So… Monkey D. Luffy, I've heard things about you. I must say, though, for somebody who carries the blood of that _loathsome_ Dragon, you're pretty stupid for letting a trap as simple as this get the better of you!"

Luffy stared wrathfully at the den-den mushi. Had Spandam been able to see those eyes, he undoubtedly would've cowered in fear.

"We're lucky, though, to have discovered you already. You're still just a child after all! A brat! Weak, pathetic, eager, and thoroughly useless! You can't do anything but try to run! Face it, for these past 2 days, you've only been delaying your inevitable capture! Nobody - and _especially_ **you** will never _ever_ will stand a chance at defying the government!" Spandam said maniacally, and a grin extra wide - extra _mocking_ was seen on the snail phone.

Those words were honestly _**so**_ close to making Luffy snap once again. What would happen, Luffy didn't know.

He felt _immensely_ _**infuriated**_, and for the love of Oda would literally _pray_ to have the cloth gone so he could yell back at the man - tell him how wrong he was, _prove_ to him how goddamn _dead __**wrong**_ he was!

_But he couldn't_.

Spandam seemed very satisfied with the silent reply, even if (unbeknownst to him) it was because of the cloth preventing a word from escaping Luffy's mouth.

"Get him to Enies Lobby immediately! No time must be wasted, you got that, you incompetent fools!?" Spandam excitedly ordered, already sounding like he simply couldn't _wait_ to meet Luffy personally and get to do _whatever _he desired to punish the child.

"Y-yessir!" The agents complied, saluting (mostly out of habit) for a split second, and then quickly and swiftly finally getting their asses moving.

They'd spent enough time here as it was.

Two agents tightly grabbed Luffy's arms and roughly forced him to stand, nearly dragging him along with them because Luffy's wobbly legs couldn't properly follow along.

_That was the instant reality clicked. He was really gonna be taken away if nothing was done. _

Luffy tried struggling once more. Tried digging his heels into the ground to force his detainers to stop, but other agents merely gave him a potent push from behind, causing him to trip before continuously being dragged onward.

He tried wiggling his way free, but the seastone tapped away at his stamina, quickly deeming him breathless. Although that plan in itself was flawed because the agents were circling around him, cutting off any escape even _if_ he broke their grip. And no way in hell was he defeating all of them in his pathetic state.

Luffy's eagerness soon morphed into an uncomfortable desperation. Nobody would come to help him. It was in the middle of the night, in some random back alley. He couldn't even scream for help because of the cloth.

_He was all on his __**own**__. _He _had to find a way out of this. _

Luffy began frantically scanning the alleyway for something, _anything_ (whatever it might be) that could help him out of this predicament. Fortunately, fate seemed to finally be playing in his favor, as within seconds, something caught the 14-year olds eyes, as they passed a certain building with a sword-shaped sign (aka a weapon shop) hanging from its back door.

_Crates. But not just any crates. Luffy recognized them from the time he and Ace had helped carry explosive for Bluejam that time with the Grey Terminal._ _The smell was familiar too. Those crates carried gunpowder - the stuff guns used to fire bullets and make those loud booms!_

_All he'd need was a spark… and Luffy knew just how to get that._

Quickly - not wasting a single precious millisecond of time - Luffy tackled the agent to his left with the last of his remaining strength, forcing the man, himself, and the agent on his right to plummet to the ground.

"Oi! Don't-"

_***BANG***_

The agent who'd been hauled to the floor had been unfortunate (fortunate in Luffy's case) enough to have landed on top of his own gun. Although it firing off like this was his own fault, because he hadn't disabled the safety...

The "aim" had been perfect, though. The bullet had hit the gunpowder filled crate, just as Luffy had intended.

_Luffy gritted his teeth, preparing himself for the incoming explosion that was sure to follow... _

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

_***BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!***_

"...!"

"What was that explosion!?"

"Is everyone alright!?"

A crowd had gathered on the bulking streets for the second time in just the span of a couple of hours, attention and worried remarks already shooting out from the panicked civilians.

The noise and sudden light were enough of a commotion to draw the people out at this hour closer and awaken the poor souls who'd already gone to sleep with the terrifying noise.

The smoke cloud rising in the distance was noticeable, and people were peaking out of their windows, clutching their loved ones protectively. Enemy attacks and raids weren't uncommon on their island - many desired their fortune and riches, after all - but that wasn't to say that they weren't scary.

The sound of a horde of guards rushing to the scene was heard, and the people surrounding the scene were firmly, though politely, asked to keep their distance, as the professionals began investigating the scene of the crime.

Little did all of the unsuspecting people of the town know, a boy was creeping away as their attention was focused on the commotion at hand.

Luffy was… in a lot of pain. _Again_.

After triggering the explosion, he and everyone else in that alleyway had been hit head-on by the _unbearable_ blast of heat, before a bone-shattering shockwave beyond his wildest imagination had sent them all flying. (And Luffy's ears were still ringing to this moment)

That left him covered in big deep bleeding burn-marks that felt like his skin was on fire and about to tear off every time he made even the slightest movement.

Also, when he had been sent flying and had collided with a wall and come to an abrupt stop, his stomach scar - the one that his fight with pigeon-guy had left him with - had begun bleeding again. A lot.

Luffy barely knew anything about medicine (his knowledge extended purely to wrapping bandages), but he could tell the current amount of blood he, unfortunately, was leaving behind in a trail as he clung to the walls, was not healthy…

Despite the excruciating pain constantly throbbing throughout every fiber of his body, however, his plan had worked. He had gotten away. What had happened to the agents, Luffy didn't know. They were probably dead, though, considering the severity of the blast, Luffy himself having only been able to survive due to the capabilities of his rubber-body.

"_Nhgn_...-!" Luffy clutched his stomach as if it would do any difference. His hand was already soaked in his own blood, but the seastone chains that had held them together had broken during the explosion.

As it, fortunately, happened to turn out, the chain forcing his hands together wasn't made of unbreakable seastone, but just normal metal. That meant Luffy could freely move his hands, but the parts of the handcuffs - the part around his wrists - was very much still intact and was also quickly diminishing his strength.

_And if an explosion wasn't gonna get those damn things off, Luffy had no clue what would. The keys to them were either destroyed or in some random corner of the alleys Luffy _seriously _didn't have the energy left to turn around and search through. _

His injuries hurting, he ever so slowly whilst quivering kept to the walls for support, moved forward. The newly sustained injuries weren't the only thing dragging him down.

The 14-year old was sniffling, overwhelmed by everything as the reality of what has just happened finally sunk in with him fully.

He had to get away, he just had to. He wasn't safe anymore, the people on this island weren't safe anymore, all because of him. Those _bastards_ had lied to him, betrayed him. Those agents claiming to be Ace's comrades had all but reminded him of one thing he had just hoped to forget.

_They were still out to get him, he was still being chased, no one around him was safe._

Luffy could feel warm water droplets form at the edge of his eyes, though the moment he noticed, he wiped them away, squinting his facial muscles to make them go away again.

'_Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, DON'T YOU DARE CRY!' _The harsh words worked, and soon Luffy had forced the tears to retrieve their way back to wherever it is tears come from, and he forcefully snuck onward.

Only one thing mattered now:

_Escape._

As Luffy wobbly made his way forward, the burns on his legs stinging more intensely with every step, he peeked around a corner carefully. He didn't want anyone to see him….

Not only did he not want to cause the nice people living on this island any more trouble, but he really _really _couldn't afford to get caught by those agents again. Not then, not now, not ever _**ever**_ again. Not like this.

There were no people around, but Luffy didn't dare take any chances, as he continued down towards the harbor, where he would have to get away on another boat, and away from Stellar island.

And as he carefully turned around another corner, still no people in sight, he could spot the almost glittering ocean - since the moonlight was lighting up the waves - in the distance, and instantly, his chest felt a sense of relief - he felt more hopeful.

He was so close to escaping again.

Though the boy instantly came to a stop when he heard voices, the sound of people moving around. He had been almost too desperate and had walked out in these people's fields of visions.

_The people working here at the harbor hadn't been distracted by the explosion, so they were probably still just going to their day-to-night work… _

Luffy ducked behind a barrel and carefully peaked his head up, the darkness doing a great job of helping him hide. If not for it, they surely would have noticed the blood trail he was leaving behind.

He clutched the reopened wound on his stomach once more, grimacing from the intense pain that immediately burned throughout his body.

_Damn_, it hurt. The last time he'd experienced anything even remotely _close_ the pain, the ache, the burning, that he was currently enduring, was years ago when he'd been 7 and had escaped from the Grey Terminal fire.

His vision was also starting to blur again as it had at Dawn Island when Lucci had first inflicted him with his scar.

_He couldn't allow himself to pass out, not yet. He couldn't allow himself to scream or (especially) cry, either. Any sound could get him discovered._

He scoured the port for a suitable ship, and the moment his eyes fell upon the large merchant ship currently being loaded with crates and supplies, he knew the opportunity was perfect.

The ship was large and rustic, looked a bit on the older side. It clearly stood out from the rest of this islands' design, and so did the merchants walking around. Which meant, that these people weren't from this island and were about to head off.

_Bingo. That would be his ticket away from this place._

* * *

**Man, that was... something. Definitely a lot to write, as this chapter currently takes a proud 2nd place for the title of the longest yet. (Number 1 would be chapter 7, which has a _staggering_ 11K words) **

**Right, so, a little more clarification regarding the sea-stone cuffs breaking like that. My CO-writer and I pondered it for a while, and after doing a bit of research, we discovered it hasn't been 100% clarified how they are made. Heck, even the designs of the damn things differ - just look at Robin's during the Enies Lobby arc as opposed to the ones Luffy's wearing right now in Udon. It could really be that the chain actually is _not_ made of seastone - maybe as a means to waste less of the valuable material? (Seastone _is _supposedly rare after all) Or if not, then it's just a head-canonny thing in this story (Luffy's only 14 after all, so metal's more than enough to keep him in check with the seastone already taking its toll on him).**

**Ah well, favorite part, time for the reviews:**

* * *

**Aysawolf: T.T I cry for you! Hopefully, it went alright though...? And thank you very much, I too am very appreciative of my back pain remaining calm for once! Oh! And to answer your question; in chapter 9, the Gorosei discuss the matter and decide it would be catastrophic if they _did_ give Luffy a bounty. Just imagine, Ace (who'd then go on o tell Whitebeard) Shanks, or Dragon seeing it, what do you think they'd do? XD (Then again, between you and me, we both know it's gonna be inevitable that they'll eventually find out about everything!) **

**Samster7241: Yes. Yes, indeed they are!**

**G1ntsuk1: Hello to you too! Yes, infection's only been getting better, thank you very much! (But there are still a few weeks of antibiotics left, sooooo...**** DX) I know, and I cry for Luffy too T.T, but laughing at the end of the last chapter is totally acceptable, and actually the reaction I kinda was hoping for! (You know, he got to have a little fun again, finally :). And, yeah, I can deeeffffinitely approve that neither Ace or Shanks are gonna be pleased... ;)**

**silverrayn123: Why thank you a bunch! You have an amazing month (even in this dire time of quarantine and isolation) as well!**

**peepee: *blushes* o-oh my! W-why thank you a lot for your compliments. I am merely happy to have the honor of writing for you folks :D**

**Luo: Hi Lou! Rest assured, I've done my best to (as annoying as it is) just take everything nice and slow, (unfortunately) also including not writing on the days I've been in pain. (Actually, here's a secret just for you: Ace will be out soon, yay! But not in the way you might imagine... ;) Also, Lou, _you_ do _your_ best to stay safe! Since you're from China, you'll easily catch the Coronavirus, right? :( STAY SAFE!**

**kagome11: Shanks. Does. Not. Take. Crap. You'll get to see more of him in the next one, actually! (Hehe...) But yes ACE WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? CAN'T YOU SEE YOUR LITTLE BABY BROTHER'S SUFFERING!? *sniff sniff* **

**...**

_**Oh wait...**_**right... he can't... **

**But also, interesting, I never knew there was actually a fanfiction like that... hmmm... worth checking out for sure! **

**Ocii99: *bows in gratitude.* Why thank you so much! Means a lot, and yes, I am definitely seeing improvement already, so I'll be up and running in no time! (hopefully...)**

**Greer123: Y-yeah... sure... it'll happen soon enough... but I didn't even think of that regarding the nobles! :O I guess they have... although, the nobles that moved to another island were the ones from the Goa kingdom who were evacuated before the Buster Call. Of course, the government has suppressed that information, so all any outsider would know is what those pirates said. **

**Caliawenn: Do not worry about your English, it was perfectly understandable! Thank you a _bunch_ for your sweet compliments (really, they mean _sooooooo_ much to me!) :D. But yeah, the reunion... definitely gonna involve a lot of crying... and a confused Ace who'll quickly turn _infuriated_ after he understands what Luffy's saying... **

**firesui: Thank you, I really just try my best! You do your absolute best to stay safe with this whole Coronavirus thing too, ok? :D**

**Jiminieisapabo: XD. I know. The truth is I am the embodiment of evil, here to punish little Lu so the most adorable fic my imagination has deemed possible eventually will be created. But worry not, no giving up is planned here, so good times await in the future! **

* * *

**Alright, as a last quick note, let me please say the most generic thing one possibly can in these times, and please, all of you, stay safe! Coronavirus or not! **

**Alrighty, updates can be expected... ahh... ermmmm... XD... **

**Well, _hopefully, hopefully, hopefully,_ HOPEFULLY with the power of my new CO-worker and our teamwork, before _too_ too long! **

**_-Cookie_ **


	13. Whitebeard pirates ahoy!

**School's now closed thanks to COVID-19. Our countries are in complete lockdown. We need to keep our social distance and constantly wash our hands... **

**Crazy how things have escalated over the course of just the last few months, huh? How are you guy's quarantines? Mine's quite great, actually! Not really a lot of stuff's changed for me since I was kinda bound to my house beforehand anyway, sooooooo... yeaaaaaa... anybody bored? Well, I have just the cure right here! (Sowy for da wait, this quarantine thingy has actually left me with a bunch of extra time on my hands so I've picked up a bunch of hobbies; reading, watching Anime with family (whilst keeping distance), practicing piano, homework (duh), exercising (to the extent that I am allowed, of course) and it's eating away the days... -_-) **

***Big inhale* So... **

**Here's a chapter with a title I know possibly will entice a lot of you. But no more words required!**

_**Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :)**_

* * *

**Chapter 12: Whitebeard pirates ahoy!**

To say it had been a long journey would be… a vast understatement.

For the past 2 months - 7 weeks, 6 days, 17 hours, 2 minutes, and 45 seconds to be excruciatingly precise (and yes, Ace _had_ in fact, alongside many of his fellow suffering brothers, begun counting) the Whitebeard pirates had been stuck at sea. For. 2. Freaking. _Months_. Even as pirates, that number was bound to eventually drive them crazy.

Not from boredom, though. In fact, their long time spent at sea had been some of the most turbulent and eventful days in a _hot_ while. Especially considering this was Paradise - the supposed _less_ wacky ocean in the Grand Line.

It had started out small when a party they'd held had attracted a flock of sea kings. Alright, that was fine, though, they _were_ the crew of the strongest man in the world after all, so that complication had promptly been resolved - no trouble at _all_ whatsoever.

_But then… the chain off misfortune and absolute adversity had been set in motion._

The very next morning - while everybody was feeling that post-party hangover that getting drunk, unfortunately, entailed - the freaking persistent ass marines decided they wanted to have a go at taking Whitebeard's head. (Honestly, what did those buffoons _think _was gonna happen, anyway?)

While there (unsurprisingly) exclusively had been minor injuries (only the weak marines were brainless enough to even _attempt_ assaulting them after all), the battle had left the Moby Dick in a complete mess thanks to everybody's carelessness while fighting. Which _meant_, they had to spend the entire sunny - perfectly suitable for other activities - day scrubbing away blood, retying cut ropes, reorganizing tumbled and destroyed crates/barrels, and such boring crap.

Unfortunately, they had not even been allowed to do _that_ in peace, as suddenly, a blizzard had appeared out of nowhere and it was all hands on deck (as if everybody weren't already) to safely navigate through it.

The rough winds and compressed snow turning to ice had resulted in many (far more than the Whitebeards could proudly admit) to slip into the freezing icy waters, putting a hell lot of pressure on Namur, who had to hurry his ass and rescue his brothers before anybody would drown or die from hypothermia.

Fortunately, all crewmembers pulled out were still (well, to some degree at least…) alive, and had been rushed to the infirmary where it had then been Marco's turn to be overloaded with work to a point where not even Thatch could joke around about it any longer.

It paid off in the end, though, as ultimately, all the pirates ended up with were some pretty severe colds that eventually would dull with rest and some green tea. In this period of ailment, Ace got surprisingly popular with the sick.

_Whaddya know, a hot firecracker for a brother proved very useful when there was no fireplace in the infirmary... The Mera-Mera no mi was a remarkably convenient fruit to have in desperate times of need!_

The Whitebeards' misfortunes, however, didn't even end _there…_!

While half of the crew were down with colds - and they still snailed forward - weeks away from any sort of solid ground- another Grand Line storm had hit and hit them hard.

80% of their food supplies had been ruined in a flood - _ruined_ as if things weren't grim enough as it was! That had been an absolute _**disaster**_. People were forced to portion out their meals and eat just once a day! _Once._ A. Day.

…

…

…

WHY!? WHAT IN ODA'S NAME HAD THEY DONE TO DESERVE THAT KIND OF _TORTURE_!? WHY DID IT SEEM LIKE THE OCEAN ITSELF WAS SUDDENLY AGAINST THEM!?

Speculations were swarming. Some thought they'd somehow angered the god above (yeah, cause there was _totally_ a guy sitting up there in the clouds claiming to be God), although the strongest supported theory was one of Haruta's, who suggested they'd stolen some cursed treasure that was now bestowing bad luck upon them.

Honestly, it was both hilarious and quite alarming what the crippled souls could come up with...

Starving, sick, sleep-deprived, exhausted - not to mention the migraines basically everybody was suffering with - it was no wonder, really, that the crew of wearied men could barely believe their ears when Curiel frantically had shouted from atop the crow's nest, that Steller Island was in sight.

Nobody at the time had cared how plain or uninteresting the damn place was, just that it had _food_, medicine, and some solid ground where they could dock their ship and finally enjoy some goddamn _peace_!

Those events had lead up to the inevitable split up. Everybody who wasn't sick, too debilitated, or (poor souls) obligated to stay behind to guard the Moby Dick immediately went scavenging for necessary supplies.

Somehow - out of his literal thousands of brothers - Ace had winded up walking down the crowded streets of the town alone with Thatch. Not that he was complaining about that, though.

The two had been busy sprinting all around for food. The streets were vaster and more confusing than you'd expect, but despite a few setbacks and needing to ask for directions a few times (minding their manners, of course), the payoff was the sacks upon sacks and crates upon crates of food they were now yanking around.

_And, inevitably, also two depressingly empty wallets._

"Man this place's a total rip-off." Thatch half-mumbled, not even trying to hide his displeasure.

It had taken no more than a few minutes for _that _to be painstakingly clear. As if the extravagant buildings alone weren't a dead giveaway, everything - down to something as casual as toilet paper - was gawkingly overpriced.

"Who in their right mind charges 1500 Beli just for some green food coloring!? I was gonna use that to prank Marco!" Thatch whined, not at all happy that he for once needed be resourceful with how he went about spending his money.

Ace had to wonder just what kind of prank Thatch had in mind. It probably involved switching Marco's shampoo with the green food coloring and turning their poor 1st division commander into a real life-sized pineapple…

"Sounds like a great idea. I bet it'll be fun to watch Marco chase you around the entire ship when it backfires," Ace smirked, already excited about laughing his ass off along with all his other brothers who'd - without a doubt - also be spectators to the hunt.

"Hmp, an unfortunate but necessary sacrifice. For your information, I feel no prank is completed without a good proper chase at the end," Thatch admitted, crossing his arms and looking away in fake offense.

Ace rolled his eyes.

"Whatever… let's just hurry and get this shopping done. No offense, Thatch, but not even _you_ can make just porridge and sea king meat appetizing any longer."

Thatch grimaced, seemingly agreeing with that assessment.

"Ugh, none taken. I've promised to cook up a real feast tonight to get everybody back into good spirits, and that I intend to do! We've already got the boar, rice, and most of the vegetables, though, so all we're missing are ingredients for dessert."

Ace nodded. He was more than ready to just be done already, head back to the Moby and take a nice long nap until dinner was ready, then empty out their stock once again when enjoying Thatch's feast, and then sneak in some mugs of sake before Marco would stop him because he was "underage".

(He was a pirate for Oda's sake! 17 was more than an appropriate drinking age!)

It grew silent between the two commanders as they continued strolling down the streets. It was strangely peaceful - minding all the crap that had happened to them over the course of just two lengthy months.

The thronging inhabitants didn't even seem affected by their presence at all. Even though Ace's naked back showed off Whitebeard's mark proudly for the whole damn world to see, the most they got was some curious eyes from the folks not currently too occupied.

That was certainly nice. For pirates whose captain's name was feared over the whole globe, such treatment was rare. Not that they minded getting recognized, but moments where they could just casually go about were definitely appreciated.

While being lost in thought, Thatch suddenly remembered something he had urgently been wanting - no _desiring_ to ask Ace for weeks. A question any new member of the Whitebeard pirates was obligated to answer when joining.

"Say, Ace, you wouldn't be as kind as to tell your bestest older brother when your-"

Thatch cut himself off (a rarity indeed) as something even _more_ important suddenly caught both his _and_ Ace's attention.

_A smell - no an indescribable _heavenly _fragrance from somewhere not far from their current positions. _

*****_**GRUUUUMMMMBBLLLEEEE***_

The stomachs of the two food-lovers fully agreed that whatever they were smelling just _needed_ to be eaten. They hadn't had anything delectable for weeks after all, so they certainly deserved it.

The divine aroma led the hungry commanders straight to the entrance of a bar that, from the outside at least, didn't have anything outstanding about it (at least in the standards of _this_ city).

Looks mattered little to the two salivating pirates, however. Without a single word being said, the two waltzed right on inside the building filled with clinking cutlery and the laughter of drunken men. Immediately, the smell of fresh meat being grilled hit them like a punch straight to their faces.

"Smeeelllsss goooooodddd!" They said in perfect sync as if hypnotized by the many fragrances.

That was the moment it was decided their little shopping trip could wait just a few more minutes (or, however long it would take for Ace, the superhuman bottomless pit, to be done anyway…).

In a flash, the two suddenly stood by the counter and placed down their abundance of groceries. That certainly earned them quite the looks from some intrigued customers…

Despite the many other eaters indicating this was quite a busy day, however, an old man soon noticed and greeted the hungry pair.

"Gooday gentlemen. Excuse me if this comes out wrong, but doncha' belong to the crew of Whitebeard..?" He questioned, delivering them both quite the muddled looks.

"Hm? Oh yeah. Is that a problem?" Ace politely asked, despite his own and Thatch's impatience. The brown-haired commander pouted at Ace's question, knowing fully that that could very well be and they'd have to respect and follow their rules if so.

"No no, of course not! Pirates are always welcome s'long as they don't cause any trouble. It's just… weren't you guys here just yesterday?"

"Huh?"

The man's query greatly puzzled the two clueless commanders. The two shed each other some befuddled glances, but both knew there was no way what the man was implying made any sense.

"Yesterday?" Thatch inquired, not even trying to hide sheer confusion in his voice.

_Blink blink_.

An expression matching Ace and Thatch's immediately spread on the old man's face.

"You mean… those guys from yesterday weren't part of the crew...?" He asked desperation and worry starting to sound in his voice.

"Sorry to tell you pal, but this is our first time visiting Stellar Island. Believe me, we'd _deeeefinitely_ know if a group of us had come by here yesterday," Thatch answered with a fake grin.

The old bartender, however, didn't seem charmed by his playful tone at all. His expression strained and turned a mixture of regret and confusion, as he silently brought his wrinkled hand to his chin as if thinking hard over something.

"Is… something the matter?" Ace asked upon seeing the bartender's reaction.

The two commanders took the man's worrisome silence as an unfortunate "yes."

"I…- it's just that… that yesterday, this kid came by-"

"Kid?"

"Yeah, I didn't get his name, but he was looking real roughed up, I tell ya. He was covered in dirty bandages and was so starved and scrawny he got sick after taking just a couple a' bites of my food. He claimed to be 14, but considering his looks, he could've easily been even younger, although there was nobody escorting him…" The man explained, sounding pitiful from even just remembering the boy.

Both Ace and Thatch immediately shared the man's concern.

'_Just 14? That's right about Luffy's age…' _Ace couldn't help but think of his crazy idiot of a little brother upon hearing that. Just the thought that children as young and defenseless as _him_ were running around alone in such a state was enough to make his stomach churn…

"What's someone so young doing _here_ of all places in such a condition?" Thatch asked with a deep frown, as if reading Ace's thoughts.

The man shrugged.

"I dunno… didn't get to ask too many questions before these other guys showed up."

_Ah, now things were starting to piece together._

"Were those the guys you thought were part of our crew?"

A nod from the elder affirmed that conclusion to be true.

"Yeah, they overheard us talking about the Whitebeards and suddenly stood right behind us and explained some stuff about a vacation or something… Anyway, I, no offense or anythin, was very skeptical about these guys and asked for some proof. In response, one of em' showed me a Whitebeard tattoo, which is why I decided to trust them."

The man looked anxiously up at the two Whitebeard commanders. He didn't know what kind of response to expect, and considering either one of them could wreck and kill everyone inside the bar within seconds, not without good reason either.

"..."

Their silence provoked fearful glances from any nearby customers who'd listened in on their conversation.

Thatch and Ace's expressions remained unchanged. Their calmness, however, was clearly only external… the tension building up between the two could legitimately have been cut by a knife. Their anger was ever so slowly rising… Ace and Thatch respectively might be idiots, but even they knew where this conversation was headed.

"What… happened next?" Ace asked, breaking the silence.

"The little imp was very eager to go... The grunts seemed nice enough, so I let em' leave…" He gave Ace and Thatch a quick apologetic glance with regret-filled eyes.

Once again, they said nothing. The two commanders cast each other some apprehensive looks as they realized just _what_ they had just learned.

Somebody out there was _impersonating_ them. Running around with a **fake** mark - the symbol that brought them peace, _protected_ them - struck fear into the hearts of their enemies and comfort in those under Whitebeard's protection. To think somebody would have the _audacity_ to take it as a joke was sickening.

_And apparently, these particular delinquents had used to trick some defenseless kid… only Oda knows what other kinds of crap they might've already pulled wearing _their _symbol. _

The commanders knew this meant war. Whoever these "guys" were, they _were_ gonna pay.

"Say, you wouldn't perhaps know where those people are now?" Thatch asked.

"And the kid - do you know what happened to him?" Ace cut in. Those _fakes_ better not have done anything to him, or he _swore_, asses were about to be scorched till they were some steaming pieces of crispy burnt flesh.

Unfortunately, it seemed finding and punishing the imposters wouldn't be as easy as that, as instead of providing the Whitebeard commanders with an answer, the man scratched his neck.

"Sorry to tell ya' but it's kinda too late for anything to be done…"

"And why's that?"

"Well, ya' see…"

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

"Oi…. OI!"

Luffy moaned at the gruff voice that threatened him to wake up from his deep slumber. His body felt even worse than it usually would after a "training" session with that crazy grandpa of his - head spinning and pounding at the same time, and every inch of his skin stinging from the fresh wounds and loads of burns covering it.

The straw-hatted teen fought against his overwhelming fatigue to force his heavy eyelids open. He was probably lucky the sky was covered in thick dark gray clouds, or the light unquestionably would have overwhelmed him. Instead, however, he was confused when he found himself staring directly into the stupefied face of a stranger.

_Then it all clicked. The rich fancy town. The bar. The traitors who had lied about being Ace's nakama. The explosion. The harbor where he had somehow managed to sneak aboard some merchant ship and then passed out after hiding behind a stack of barrels. _

Crap, this meant he'd been discovered again, didn't it?

"Huh, so you weren't dead after all…" The man sounded surprised more than anything. Probably because of the pool of blood Luffy was certain he was sitting in. Any normal human probably _would_ have been long since gone.

"A-anyway, this is the end for you. We've been patient enough to wait until arriving at the next island… This isn't some cruise ship you know, so… just get off, please? Or else, my captain told me to _make_ you." The sailor did his best at sounding rigid, but his discomfort shone through it.

Luffy remained motionless, even upon hearing that threat. Not that he doubted the man wouldn't do it. He was just too tired to waste any energy replying.

Unfortunately, this meant he had no choice but to move. In his current state, Luffy was _sure_ it was gonna hurt like hell to walk.

He shed the island they had docked at a desperate glance. From his position on the floorboards, all he could make out was a bunch of tall trees with lots of colorful fruits and flowers growing on them.

_Hopefully, though, there was a doctor somewhere on the island who'd be willing to help him. He still had the money that nice guard had handed him… if it wasn't too burnt. He'd forgotten to check._

Ever so slowly, the wounded straw-hatted teen arose from his comfortable position on the floor, his aching muscles instantly complaining from the slight movement. Black dots immediately blocked his vision and his lightheadedness made him want to faint. He leaned against the barrels for support to avoid that while he regained his lost breath.

Ugh, he felt like crap. But the impatient stare the sailor was giving him lead to Luffy to believe he didn't care much about that as long as he got off their ship.

The teen gritted his teeth.

'_Come on Luffy! You're not gonna get any closer to Ace like this!' _Luffy mentally scolded, clenching his blood-smeared fists as a means to finally get his act together.

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

Ace let out an _abysmal_ sigh of satisfaction as he lazily leaned against the Moby Dick's railing, gazing out on the glittering ocean. The sun was setting in the distance, turning the water an absolute exquisite crimson-red color. A beautiful sight indeed - one Ace knew he blessed to have the freedom of enjoying like this.

His tummy was, after 2-ish hours, finally stuffed to a point where he felt satisfied. Thatch's cooking had really hit the spot. Nobody had even attempted to hold themselves back at the banquet, even if that meant another shopping trip tomorrow.

The party was still going strong behind him. Probably would until everybody were either passed out or had run out of liquor.

If one listened closely enough, they'd be able to hear the bickering voices of Haruta and his sparring partner, Vista. Apparently, the 12th division commander had gone just an insty bit overboard while shopping for "supplies" and had bought matching shirts as a sign of their "respect" for one another. Now everybody was doing their_ utmost_ best to try and convince their 5th division commander to actually wear it, of course ensuing chaos.

Ace had oh so politely excused himself from getting involved in _that_ entire mess to have just a moment of alone time.

It was nice. Just a few months back, be would've for sure snickered at the thought of sailing with idiots like these. But _damn_ had he come to love them idiots. Laughter.. singing… the tranquil waves calmly slamming against the Moby's sides in a soothing slow rhythm… Everything was exactly as it should be... Ace felt great and at absolute total peace!

…

_...Or, so he'd_ like _to be able to admit. _

Even though the evening was a joyful one for the Whitebeard pirates, something… just ...was _not_ right. Ace had desperately been trying to shake the nagging feeling of "wrong" all night, but needless to say had been unsuccessful.

"Ace, yoi? Something wrong?"

Ace glanced in the direction of the familiar voice and spotted Marco approaching.

"Ah, Marco. Sorry, it's just… I guess I've been kinda uneasy ever since the shopping trip…"

The 1st division commander's expression remained calm. Just as always when you were addressing personal matters with Marco. He had some scary talent for keeping up that lazy facade of his.

"Now that you mention it, both you and Thatch seemed upset when you returned…" He shed Thatch a brief glance.

The 4th division commander had somehow managed to remove Vista's old shirt and was now playing a game of 'throw and catch' alongside some other helpful crewmembers whilst mocking their shirtless 5th division commander.

Vista (unsurprisingly) was red as a tomato and was shouting drunken curse words at Thatch whilst trying at best attempt to catch the damned prankster, but it was basically the entire crew against him, so it was a cruelly uphill battle. And there Thatch was… laughing like a madman while derisively waving his brother's shirt for the entire crew to see.

He might've been laughing now, but Marco still recalled the lost look on his face when he and Ace silently had waltzed onto the deck without saying as much as a single word about their trip just a few brief hours ago.

"Mind sharing a piece of your mind, yoi?" Marco inquired, attention returning to Ace.

The 2nd division commander stared blankly at the lulling waves as if contemplating how he should explain himself. That was fine, though, Marco kept his eyes locked on him, patiently waiting for him to make sense of his thoughts.

"Well..." He finally began after quite some time had passed. "I guess it happened when Thatch and I… Uhm... went a little off schedule and into a bar selling some heavenly smelling food… There we met an old man who seemed surprised to see us. Apparently he'd talked with some guys claiming to be Whitebeard pirates just yesterday... they even had the mark going to prove it..."

Marco's eyes widened ever so slightly as he quickly pieced together just what Ace was claiming…

"You're saying there were fakes, yoi?" Anger was evidently underlying in his voice. Ace understood that... he'd felt the exact same way when he first learned of it too. He gave a simple nod as an answer to his question, but then, much to Marco's puzzlement stared back at the ocean instead of continuing his explanation.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" He queried. Sure, Ace might still be a relatively new member to the crew + a _comically_ big hothead who for some damned reason felt the need to shoulder the whole world on his shoulders, but even Thatch had kept quiet about this too… and that was not an easy feat when it was Thatch they were talking about.

"Because there'd be no damn reason to! Those bastards were dead before we even arrived at Stellar Island!" Ace yammered, obviously displeased with his inability to intervene as well.

"Dead, yoi?" Marco pushed.

"Yeah… apparently there was an explosion yesterday night and those guys somehow got cut up in it. Their bodies - well what remained of them anyway - was recovered not long after."

The 2nd division commander pouted deeply, his (pun _definitely_ intended) blazing temper undoubtedly getting the better of him.

With all the battles and constant dangers the Whitebeard pirates had faced lately, Marco had somehow forgotten Ace really _was _just 17. A hot-tempered brat with a knack for getting into trouble. A boy so stubborn and prideful he didn't even know to run away from a fight to protect himself.

Damn… it had taken a long-ass time just to get the fact that it was_ ok_ to have people looking out for into that thick skull of his…

"Why all the sulking then, yoi? If they're already dead there's simply nothing we can do about it. Why not let it go and join back up with the others… I think Vista's finally starting to crack," he snickered. But despite Marco's playful shift in tone, Ace didn't seem appeased at all.

There was a short moment of silence once more. Ace appeared to be having another kind of internal conflict. Marco wondered for just a moment if Ace was planning on actually sharing some of his thoughts, but that uncertainty was quickly resolved:

"Say, Marco…? Have… have you ever felt like there's something you're just… unaware off? Like - something is horribly horribly wrong, but you just don't have a clue as to what that something might even be?" Ace did his best to explain, but even he didn't get these shitty feelings much himself.

Marco stared, slightly bemused at his younger brother. His calm facade, however, remained nonetheless...

"Well, I'd say I definitely have, yoi… most of the, though, it's definitely stemmed from paranoia or stress more than any real sign of an emergency. I think it's because there's a lot of things out of our control while we're out here sailing... You don't know where or what the people you care about are or are doing… heck, one of them could be having a heart attack as we speak, and you wouldn't know before its too late, yoi!"

The 1st division commander stared ruminatively at the darkening waters. His expression hardened - hurt and regret glinting painstakingly clear in his eyes. Marco was talking from experience. That much even Ace could deduce from his look alone.

A much-preferred grin, however, quickly found its way back onto his face.

"I think I've learned not to worry about stuff like that. If all you do is contemplate the horrendous stuff that has even the slightest of possibility of actually occurring, you're only gonna wear yourself out by stressing about it all the time. But what brought this up, yoi?"

Marco couldn't help but wonder. Ace wasn't one to get depressed and have deep thoughts like this.

"Well I… I guess that happened when the bartender told us about this kid he met…"

"Kid, yoi?"

"Yea, our thoughts were exactly the same when he first mentioned it. But apparently, som 14-ish-year-old kid with horrible injuries has been wandering around alone asking for some way to contact us."

"Why's that? Does he know somebody onboard, yoi?" Marco questioned, brows furrowing in worry.

Ace shrugged.

"I dunno. All the man could get out of the kid was it was really important he found us fast... Those… _imposters_ they… they tricked him into following them..! Luckily, it seems he managed to avoid getting involved in that explosion I mentioned earlier, because his… dead body wasn't found… the only issue _that_ leaves is nobody knows _what_ happened to him..."

Ace's grip around the railing tightened. For some strange reason, this entire ordeal agitated him to an inexplicable degree. Why was that? What was it he was missing? Even after an entire evening, he couldn't seem to figure that out.

"I see, yoi… that certainly is bothersome. But, Ace, you shouldn't feel guilty or in any way responsible for that.." Marco's voice lowered into the 'motherhenly' state he was oh so famous (or infamous?) for. "We'll go searching a bit tomorrow to see if the villagers might have missed him… we can even ask around a bit on the next few islands as to if anybody has seen him. That sound good to you?" Marco suggested, knowing that, unfortunately, was all they could do.

The Grand Line, cruel as the thought was, was no place for a kid to be traveling on his own. Chances were, even if he _had_ managed to escape their imitators, his injuries or age would leave him too vulnerable to fend for himself for much longer…

Ace determinedly nodded, thinking along the same sets of disturbing lines as Marco. Marco, knowing he had finally gotten through to that little idiotic brother of his smiled in victory.

"Why don't we rejoin the others? Dessert's just about to be brought out, yoi," Marco enticed.

"...Sure," Ace - _reluctantly_ for some bizarre reason - agreed.

_Even after that fulfilling chat with Marco, he couldn't completely shake the feeling of urgency to do… _something…

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

Luffy stared as the merchant ship that had carried him gradually sailed off into the horizon, leaving him behind. It had been a quick stop for the crew on board. Just set anchor, gather some fruits for consumption, and then off they'd went again.

The teen stood leaned against a fairly sizable tree trunk as he gazed after the vessel. The cool salty breeze from the edge of the island was soothing for the many stinging wounds. If not for the fact that Luffy was already shivering thanks to the freezing temperature, he could've probably stayed there forever.

"Right… better get going…" he mumbled begrudgingly staring straight into the depths of the unknown forest.

It was actually peculiarly colorful and dense upon further inspection. It was probably easy to get lost in there, which was problematic for Luffy. Maybe there… was a map or something around that could help?

"Oi, kid!"

Familiar with the nickname, Luffy turned to look who called out to him, only to be met by a set of shady unattractive men approaching.

Maybe it was some newfound instinct, but it told Luffy he shouldn't engage with them. The straw-hatted teen immediately turned around to flee, but more bad guys promptly emerged from the nearby bushes, blocking his path. Within seconds, the remaining members caught up as well, surrounding and efficiently trapping Luffy in a circle.

The 14-year old gritted his teeth.

_Damn it! Not again! _

"Now now, where do you think you're going, kiddo?" One of the grunts chuckled mockingly.

Luffy send him a death glare. Actually, just to all of them. This scene already was already starting to get _waaaaaaaay_ too familiar…

"Go away! I have nothing to give you ugly jerkasses!" He boldly insulted. And true to his words he was. Because now Luffy actually had money, but as if he'd sink as low as to try and bargain his way out of this.

"What was that!?"

"You _brat_-!"

"Oi, cut the crap, men," a man with a sable and scruffy beard tiredly commanded. Luffy concluded he lead the group as the two men reluctantly shut their mouths. His dead stone-cold eyes quickly fell to Luffy. He studied him for a few seconds, but his unemotional expression made it impossible to tell what he was plotting.

"I'm just gonna skip straight to the point here, _boy_. A little birdie informed us the government is chasing some roughed up kid wearing a straw hat and broken handcuffs… in exchange for capturing you alive and kickin' there's a hefty reward awaiting us."

He smiled maliciously.

Luffy tensed tremendously upon hearing that ludicrous (and yet somehow astonishingly obvious) piece of information.

"Does that mean you're with _those_ guys!?" He hysterically yelled although the answer to that question was painstakingly evident.

"That's right! Now, come along like a good little boy!"

"Not that there's much a kid in your condition could do to resist anyway!"

The kidnappers (they might as well be) slowly closed in on their prey. Any second now, one of them was sure to leap in and snatch Luffy, ensuring his capture. Fortunately, Luffy by now had obtained enough experience to know that as well…

The second a bandana-wearing fellow surged forward to grab him, Luffy jumped, using the man's head as a springboard to hop straight over the heads of the group, and out of their 'secured' circle.

Unfortunately, as Luffy, shortly after, connected with the ground, his knees jolted weakly under his weight as he felt a surge of pain from his joints.

'_That's new…'_ was all the thought he gave it before promptly dashing into the depths of the forest as fast as his short legs could carry his bloodied body.

The flabbergasted crooks stared in bemusement as their precious prey disappeared in between some bushes, only just then processing what had just happened…

"WHAT ARE YOU FOOLS WAITING FOR! CHASE HIM FOR ODA'S SAKE!"

"Y-YES BOSS!" They stuttered, and with that outcry, the chase began.

Luffy looked back in discontent as he heard the grunts pick up pace and chase after him. He was already well ahead of them, but that advantage, unfortunately, wouldn't save Luffy forever, that he knew…

They were adults with legs much longer than his own, plus the tiny factor that none of them were fatally injured.

Luffy's world was spinning. With every unstable step he ran, it felt as though knives were repeatedly stabbing his bloodied abdomen, forcing him to clutch his throbbing tummy once again. His head was about to explode. His vision was growing dim once again. His burns were all acting up, not appreciative of his straining movements.

There was nothing Luffy could do about that though. Nothing but grit his teeth, suck it up and run faster.

His only saving grace was the familiar terrain. While Luffy had spent the last 10 _years_ dashing through the wilderness, he imagined that plausibly wasn't the case for his pursuers. Every now and then, swears were yelled from behind him as they hit their heads on dangling branches or tripped over the roots of the trees.

"Serves them right…" he sourly mumbled under his own muttered breath.

"Just give it up brat! There's nowhere to run!"

Luffy took the liberty of peeking back at his pursuers. They were still right behind him. Covered in dirt and scrapes from all their tripping, but their eyes were fuming in their spirits not yielding in the slightest.

_Damn those guys were tenacious!_

Focusing back ahead, Luffy saw a hefty bundle of bushes coming up. They were densely packed… could even provide as a cover for the few seconds he would be running through it...

Desperate as Luffy was, an idea miraculously sparked in that brain of his.

_If.. if he could just manage to reach past those bushes… then he could use his Gumo-Gomu no mi powers to grab onto a tree branch and take cover in the treetops for a while. A second was all he required to thoroughly confuse the jerks. At least until they went off to search for him elsewhere. _

With that plan in mind, Luffy sped up (it burned, but would be worth it in just a few seconds). The kidnappers also noticed. Being professionals in this profession, they could easily spot the difference between a trapped rat and a trapped rat with a plan…

"Hurry! Don't let him pass through those bushes!" The leader yelled, though in vain.

Luffy tore straight through, blocking his face with his equally injured arms as the innumerous itnsy bitsy branches slapped against his skin. He couldn't care less about that though, as a brief 3 seconds thereafter, he breached through the bushes at 100 km/h.

_Yosh! Alright now, quickly before those goons could follow, he'd need some branch to grab onto-_

…

…

…

Just then Luffy recognized the horrible mistake he'd made. There were no trees to grab onto… actually, that plan in itself was thoroughly flawed, Luffy now, unfortunately, realized. The seastone around his wrists. He couldn't stretch willingly as of right now!

That was far from his worst worries though... because...there… there wasn't even any ground to _stand _on.

_A cliff. He'd run himself straight off the edge of a damn cliff. _

The last thing he heard as he plummeted into the even denser part of the jungle-like flora was his pursuers emerging and cursing as their prized target fell further out of their reach.

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

"Damn it!" The leader's swear echoed far and wide across the dead silent canyon. Beside him, his sweaty subordinates still fought hysterically to regain some air after that turbulent chase.

"What… *huff*are… *huff* we supposed to… *huff*... to do now, boss?"

The incompetent faction turned to their commander for answers. Their eldest ignored his underling at first, though, staring indignantly down the hundred meters steep cliffside, eyes fuming markedly instead.

_For freak's sake! The reward they were gonna receive by capturing that little shrimp was big enough that they'd never ever have to work _ever _again!_ _They could've bought liquor lasting them days! Enough food that they'd never starve once more!_

Damn this hurt. Their entire group of experienced criminals couldn't catch _one_ deathly injured kid. What humiliation! And now the little brat had gone and done _this_!? Was he clever or simply _that_ desperate that he was willing to risk his life to escape like that?

"Get in contact with our clients," he sharply ordered, not even shedding his valued comrades a glance.

"Y-yes! Of o-of course boss!"

A member clumsily pulled out a baby den-den mushi from the depths of his pocket and hurriedly dialed the correct number. While the small snail waited for a reply from the other end, the leader stomped over and snatched the communication device out of his subordinate's hand. He was pissed, and he wasn't gonna try to hide it either.

A simple "gacha" soon sounded, indicating a connection had been established.

"Hey, it's us. The little brat somehow managed to evade us. He jumped straight down a cliff, the crazy pipsqueak," the man explained, moving straight to the point.

"..."

A short temporary silence followed that direct confession.

"I see… I wouldn't worry if I were you, though. It takes more to kill that boy, even if he's severely injured," a stern voice calmly elucidated.

The kidnappers all raised their brows in suspicion, clearly skeptical of the man's assessment. Had he even seen the degree of some of the burns and other sortsa' crap that boy had had?

"Where are you right now? We'll send backup your direction straight away," the voice casually continued.

"R-right…"

The grumpy leader scoured the area, registering just then he too had little idea of their current location.

"I'd say... we're about a mile away from the east shore… on the edge of the cliffside leading to the valley below," he told, finally regaining some of his senses.

Unfortunately for the dearly unfortunate man, he had no time to receive further instructions. Suddenly - way _way_ faster than a single one of the thugs had an opportunity to register, a shadow swooped right past them, targeting their leader.

_The outlaw wasn't even allowed to have a few last pathetic words as something was inserted into his chest, leaving a bullet-sized hole. The man coughed up blood and then tumbled over. Lifeless. __**Dead**__. _

"...B… B-B...Boss..?"

_The faction stared, eyes wide with abhorrence and horror. Just as that. They'd turned their backs and then... _

"Boss!-"

"I think you outsiders have done quite enough…" an unexpected grave voice abruptly declared, rudely interrupting the group's compassionate moment.

All crooks instinctively drew their weapons of choice - sables, swords, knives - and stared with raging eyes in the direction of its owner.

There - a mere feeble few feet away - a man in total black had suddenly appeared out of thin air. His hair was curly, mid-length, and also black, matching his suit. On his shoulder, a damn pigeon (of all things!) was for some reason very comfortable sitting on his shoulders. Though most notably was the number of bandages covering him from nearly head to toe... had they not just witnessed it with their own damned eyes, not one of the crooks would have believed that man to be of any sort of danger to them.

"Th-that voice…! Rob Lucci-sama, is that you!?" The previously hollow voice from the baby den-den sounded astonishingly dazed.

The criminals chose to ignore that. Lucci too.

"You..! Who the hell are you!? Why would you kill our Boss!? What did he do to deserve this…!?"

Lucci said nothing. He stared. _Glared_. With eyes that could **kill**. Despite their boiling rage, the grunts were overwhelmed by that _intense_ withheld malice, and anxiously shied away a little…

"...Why?" Lucci quietly repeated.

Suddenly, like a cat finally ambushing its prey, he disappeared in a blur of speed and, in the wink of an eye, reappeared right in front of his newly selected target, impaled his chest with his _bare finger_, and just like that, killed clueless crook #2.

"It's simple. A stone-set rule of suppressing information, really. Anybody knowing of _that _boy's existence also carries the risk of leaking the fact that the government's chasing him to some...rather perilous sources. This means, of course, all of you **will have to** **die** so we can rest assured you won't go off telling anybody."

* * *

**So, uh, karma-much? At least those dastardly kidnappers got what they deserved in the end, though... right...? XD**

**To those of you who've been wanting Ace; here he is!... not in the way you expected, huh? OwO Sowy, but it is not yet time for Ace to discover the horrid truth! **

**So, what are your thoughts on this chapter? Please do tell! I'll gladly take a scolding for dangling the truth right in front of Ace's nose like that. But then you might ask; "Cookie-chan! When _will_ Ace finally stop being stupid and learn and then burn everything!?" Well, dear amazing reader, to you I say, I have made some quick calculations *cough cough* and... I'd say... uhhhmmm... approximately 5... 6ish chapters until Ace learns. But fear not! Only 3 chapters and... _something (_something definitely worthwhile the wait!) is bound to happen ewe.**

**Anyway, favorite part, time for reviews!**

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**AysaWolf: Owo. Sorry XD Glad I could finally pull myself together and write something not excruciatingly cruel to little Lu, though! And here's Ace for you! Cookies to you for being an amazing supporter, thank you a million for reading and reviewing, and stay safe!**

**deathshade37: Thank you! Writing emotions can get a tad bit tedious at times, so I'm glad it usually works out as well as it does OwO Stay safe and healthy in these times!**

**Caliawenn: Well yea. Those sailors were mean and impatient. As will, unfortunately, many strangers treat a little snot-nosed kid T-T**** Don't worry, I promise you there shall be fire when Ace's rage is unleashed... (hehe). Anyway, thank you for your excitement, it pumps me! And stay safe and healthy! :D**

**MR97: *ahem* Your level of English is perfectly understandable, I know exactly what you mean! To your generous words, I say thank you! :D And yeah, don't worry I can't _wait_ for that sweet sweet reunion either! Stay safe and remain healthy!**

**Sophia Mendes-Coruja: No worries, but I'm ecstatic to see you back! :D So, where to start... well firstly, thank you a million times over and over, as always your compliments have brightened my world! OwO LOVE YOU LOTS BACK! *SENDS VIRTUAL HUGS AND COOKIES. And yeah, it's crazy to think about the world... 2020 will forever be remembered as the year a pandemic broke out and everybody began fighting over buying toilet paper.**** (sorry, just tryna' brighten mood a little XD) But whamzalla_dam_, Sophia-chan _can _now no Coronavirus get ba _BAM_! (Stay safe!) **

**Lou: Yes. The entire country's in complete lockdown. We aren't allowed to meet in big groups or visit patients in the hospital. We need to keep at least 2 m distance from one another and constantly wash our hands. Then again, COVID-19 doesn't nearly affect my country as much as China... How are you, Lou? ): I pray for your well being and safety!**

**Greer123: Yes. That's (unfortunately!) gonna be a point when he meets new people from now on. D: (Also, stay safe and healthy please!) **

**Ocii99: Yeah but... but the more the suffering the sweeter the reunion... right...? XD Oh! And thank you a bunch, Cookies for you! Stay safe and take care of yourself!**

**kagome11: Glad it met your standards. My CO-writer and I went on a rant discussing what needed to happen and... yeah... the result was that! XD Wash your hands, keep your distance, stay say, and remain healthy! OwO**

**Jennifer: Welcome! Cookies to you! Here's your update, and you too. **

**deant33: Yes! I poked around a bit but couldn't find another fanfic that took the "what if the government discovered Luffy's existence?" to this extreme. (Idk, maybe I just missed some great ones? :D) so as the saying goes, "I decided to simply do it myself!" It's certainly been a ride so far, but please hang on just a little longer! Also, stay safe and protect yourself! UwU**

**yekyucho: Thanks. Really. I try, but I do feel I still have some growing left to do, which pumps me to write even more! And oh, you have "I like _those_ types of fanfictions?" XD. Yeah, I gotta say this plot _is_ quite enjoyable. (Probably why I've decided to write an entire fic centered around the damn premise... C: ). And sorry for the wait... haha *nervous laughter*... I'll try my best to get the next ones out a bit faster XD I promise their reunion will be as heartwrenching as my abilities as an author allows me to! Stay safe and healthy! **

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**Oh god... it's like, 10 PM and I still have homework... whoopsie... XD**

**One last time: STAY SAFE! STAY HEALTHY! PROTECT YOURSELVES! AND DON'T DIE FROM BOREDOM! **

**Updates are to be expected ewe! I'll see you guys!**

_**-Cookie**_


	14. Medicine: Check! Now run for your life!

**So, how's everybody's quarantine? Mine's finally over and everything's slowly opening up again. Steadily. Gradually. Which (to anybody who knows the story) means I can hopefully soon get surgery #2! Yay! That's probably what I'm the most excited about anyway :P **

**How about you, though? I'm honestly curious what the state of your countries (cause, oh yeah, this thing gets distributed all over the world O-O) are right now. **

**Anyway, another chapter means another step closer to the reunion, am I right? OwO. Look out peeps, cause this about to get just a_ liiiitttllle _crazy :) **

_**Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :)**_

* * *

**Chapter 13: Medicine: Check! Now run for your life!**

Luffy awoke to a sweet alluring fragrance and something wet and rough rubbing against his cheek. As he blinked his eyes open, he found that something to be a slightly oversized deer licking his face.

_Only this one had a multitude of vibrant colorful flowers sprouted on its antlers. That probably explained the aroma. _

Luffy stared curiously at the peculiar creature as it shuddered away a little, thanks to Luffy's sudden movements. Well, this was certainly new… even _if_ he'd grown up amongst house-sized animals…

The fascinated and distracted teen - for a moment forgetting his quite pitiful condition - thoughtlessly moved to sit just like normal, only to immediately be overwhelmed by a sudden surge of nausea and a piercing ache mostly prominent in his head and abdomen.

_Ugh… well, at least _that _hadn't changed._ _And he had just plummeted from atop that cliff… even if his rubber body had saved his life, his pre-existing injuries weren't taking the impact too kindly…_

Suddenly, as Luffy was contemplating whether to rest for a little longer or just pull his ass off the dirt and get moving, the mystery deer - no longer interested in the child - graciously turned around and leaped behind the cover of the jungle's trees and vibrant plants.

"Ah-! Wait!" Luffy called out, only to (despite his blatant disappointment) immediately shake his head, realizing it was pointless.

_Right… he had more important things to do rather than admire some deer… _

The straw-hatted boy gritted his teeth, knowing damn well whining about his injures would get him nowhere. With the help of a nearby tree and it's convenient branches, Luffy managed to slowly pull his way up from the ground. He winced in pain from the tight grip. His hands sure as hell didn't like the straining motions. Then again, neither did any part of his body for that matter...

His entire being was screaming at him, his lungs feeling like they were about to burst, but after quite a bit of struggling, Luffy managed to miraculously stand on his own two quivering legs nonetheless. At least for a few seconds.

'_Whoop-!'_ His knees nearly buckled under the weight of his body. But Luffy persisted, standing tall as he drew in hoarse breaths. He was exhausted from his effort to get up but determined nonetheless.

_Alright… that was the first obstacle conquered, now as for the second biggest hindrance…_

The teen confusedly glanced around at his current surroundings. Trees and greenery to his left. Trees and greenery to his right. An impossibly steep stone wall that he for sure wasn't getting back up behind him. Yup, this terrain for sure would lead to him to be lost in no time.

_Again_…

A sudden icy-cold droplet of water dripping onto his nose snapped Luffy out of his reflecting. He turned his attention upwards to the treetops that blocked the darkened sky. The clouds were black as... well, something really dark. It almost made it feel like it was already night.

In no time whatsoever, it began pouring. Although the wide tops of the trees did well to keep out most of the rain. At least _that_ was a bonus of being lost in a dense jungle on a mystery island.

"Ah well… guess there's nothing to do but go and hope I find… something? Right?" Luffy cluelessly asked himself, not quite sure of what that "something" might even be.

Well, true to his own suggestion, the teen slowly began marching onward, as the rain hammered against branches and leaves. The only other sounds were shrieks, quacks, and a multitude of growls originating from the various species of creatures.

Actually, as Luffy gradually and wobbly began traversing through the jungle, he spotted more and more of those.

Beavers with golden teeth seeking shelter in a hollow tree trunk, birds (the species unidentifiable of course) with feathers that glittered like… well glitter in the trees - oh, and even some oversized fox that was a fiery red and silver instead of the usual orange and white…

Basically like animals from a fairy tale except they were real.

_Huh, strange… he must've missed the bizarre exciting wildlife of this island completely earlier when he'd been rushing through the jungle, running for life..._

Luffy decided not to pester the creatures. 1, he didn't have the energy too, and 2, they were merely trying to find quiet from the storm. Since nobody was going through the trouble of hunting _them_, Luffy wasn't gonna be a jackass and actually do that.

"I wonder if those guys from before followed me down here…" Luffy hoarse mumbled to himself, carefully glancing back to where he knew to top of the cliff was. It was too damn high for him to actually see anything that was going on up there (heck, the jumbo-sized trees were blocking his view enough as it was), but the child innerly prayed they'd simply written him off as dead. Yeah, maybe by some miracle they actually _had_ done that? And then those other suit-bastards would stop coming after him too!

As happy thoughts began flooding Luffy's mind, the teen spotted something in the corner of his blurred vision, causing him to come to a slow halt.

_Hold on… was that…?_

…_._

_It was! _

_Smoke! Grey and thick - unmistakenly from a chimney! _

_Which meant there had to be a village just up ahead, right?! _

A tired smile (but immensely wide nonetheless) crept onto the weakened boy's blood and dirt-smeared face. Now pumped with determination once more, Luffy began walking again - this time a little faster - towards the grey ray of hope in the distance.

This was beyond great! With his money he could buy some more food!- oh and medicine too. He _was _starting to feel all weird, so he'd definitely need some of that.

'_Yosh..! Just you wait Ace, I'll find you before you know it! Just wait… Wait and watch me!' _

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

"_ACHI_!" Ace suddenly sneezed intensely and _flung_ forward as he abruptly awoke from another one of his narcolepsy strikes. Actually, _that_ had been happening a lot lately. Like someone was constantly talking behind his back in secret...

"You okay? Maybe you're starting to catch something..." The question was asked by Izo whom Ace casually had been casually chatting away with before his attack.

The 16th division commander glared pitifully at his younger brother who was now sitting flat on his bum. (Well, it could've been worse he supposed… Ace had been sitting on the railing when it happened after all and, fortunately for Izo, had slammed backward instead of plummeting into the, albeit mirror-clear and glistening, ocean…)

"Nah, I don't think so. Haven't ever been sick before as a kid. Somebody out there probably just can't keep their mouth shut and keep going on and _on_ about how awesome of a pirate I- hey Izo, what's with that look of yours? Don't you get I'm talking serious here?" Ace pouted as he send Izo a puzzled glance. His expression looked like he was about to explode of laughter.

"Pff, ha- s-sorry Ace, i-it's just…" Izo didn't even need to finish his sentence for Ace to understand.

_Flick._

_Oh no, they did _not_! Not again!_

Ace sprung up from his sleeping spot on the wooden floor over to the railing once more, staring at his reflection in the ocean below. It was a beautiful day, after all, so he was perfectly capable of seeing his… _transformed_ face… so to say...

_Somebody_ had had their share of fun with a marker while he'd been unconscious and helpless… a pair of very non-fashionable glasses had been drawn over his highlighted eyes, his freckles were now properly connected because of what Ace could only assume was a game of connect-the-freckles.

_That wasn't the worst of it though_…

No, not even the hearts on his forehead or bowtie drawn on his neck… but right there, across his upper lip, a beautifully stylish - long and luscious - _mustache_…

_Damn it! That - admittedly not _totally _lame- mustache made him look just like _him!

Ace stood quietly as a dark shadow covered his blazing eyes, his rager innerly and slowly boiling. Behind him, two lone individuals _dared _show their faces from behind a wall they were hiding behind.

"My Haruta, don't you think Ace is looking quite - _pfft_!- quite extraordinary this lovely ha-! this _lovely_morning?"

"Yes, yes indeed. He pfffffttt- he looks manlier than ever, Thatch!"

The two pranksters were on the verge of exploding with laughter. Ace was on the brink of exploding too… though he was feeling something quite different…

"THATCH...! HARUTA...! I SWEAR TO ODA WHEN I CATCH THE TWO OF YOU, YOU'LL BE DEADER THAN MARCO AFTER A FULL WEEKENDS WORTH OF PAPERWORK!" He roared, instantly spinning around on his feet and charging after his elder siblings.

Thatch and Haruta - understandably valuing their lives - immediately began running as well, tears of joy and bubbling laughter erupting from them. The crewmembers out on deck - being fully aware of the commotion - stepped aside in order to watch the chase unfold. Most also broke into a stomach cramp-inducing laughter at Ace's sincere attempts at catching the two, even knowing they'd do the exact same were they in Ace's shoes.

Izo too laughed, albeit not as loudly to avoid gaining Ace's attention. The little spitfire was for sure gonna kill him if he found out he'd also played a part of the joke by doing little as an attempt to stop the crew's mischief-makers from even drawing on his face in the first place.

It, admittedly, was great seeing Ace act more like his usual self again, though. After Marco calmly had explained Ace's and Thatch's little… discovery on Stellar island, they all had, of course, agreed to go scouring the island for any sign of this "mystery boy" knacking their youngest thoughts...

Unfortunately, they'd turned up empty-handed. Ace seemed the most down about it for sure, staying awfully quiet during dinner and even turning in early.

But as his time on the Moby had proved, Izo was not to underestimate the power of a good night's sleep and Thatch's home-cooked breakfast. Here he was, a day later, springing about more unrestrainedly than Izo had seen him for the past month.

Fabulous and hilarious as the current hunt for revenge so _absolutely_ was, though, something different soon caught the 16th division commander's attention and snapped him out of his thoughts. A tiny black dot steadily growing bigger and approaching their ship from above. Considering the time of day, Izo knew exactly what that something was.

He raised a hand and waved a little dramatically to the news-coo bird, successfully flagging its attention. The seagull glided swiftly through the air and gracefully landed right within reach for the commander. The cross-dresser reached for the small leather sack of coins in his pocket, about to empty it completely and buy a dozen newspapers before quickly reminding himself that probably wasn't a good idea.

_Ah… right. They'd wasted a dangerous amount of money on just restocking supplies as it was. Better save whatever scraps of coins were still left on board._

Begrudgingly, the man decided it to be smart to buy just one paper. Even if it meant everybody would have to share. After handing the bird a single golden coin, the seagull, satisfied with its profit gained, soon rose back into the cloudless sky to continue on with its day.

Izo didn't even share the creature a glance as it flew off and instead immediately flipped through the newly acquired paper.

"Let's see what kind of juicy disasters have transpired this time…" The man cravingly mumbled to himself. It had been _too_ damn long since he'd last experienced amusement from these sort of appalling news. Even if he knew to take everything written with a _generous_ grain of salt.

"_A travesty! Tree fully-loaded cargo ships transporting profitable Sake looted by Paradise pirates!" _

'_Well, Oyaji sure won't like that… it even happened not far away from here. Nearby Islands could possibly have no liquor when we arrive…'_ Izo smirked nervously, already imagining the dissatisfaction the monster he also called his father was sure to express at that.

"_Clothes - cotton, fabric, and silk now more expensive than ever. Tenryuubito demand more expenses for allowing importation of exotic merchandise!"_

That admittedly caused Izo to pout in strong distaste as he tightly grasped the crunching paper and hastily scanned the rest of the upsetting article.

"What the hell! These prices are ridiculous!" The clothes-snob grumpily snorted. Great, they were dirt poor and now this happened! Displeased and not in the mood for more financial crap, Izo turned the page in hopes of reading something a little more exhilarant and hopefully _useful _information.

_The papers did not disappoint. _

A deep genuine frown spread across Izo's face as the headline was read and he began thoroughly inspecting the content of the next sheets of paper.

"What the hell…?" He asked in abashment, now sucking up every word of context, and yet still unable to make sense of it.

_This couldn't be a lie either... there was an actual picture to prove it. _

'_Oyaji needs to see this…'_ he ultimately concluded. The 16th commander folded up the papers and headed straight for and then through the mass of pirates still in on the fun of spectating Ace's rage unfold.

The youngest had finally caught his prey. Haruta and Thatch were now pitifully sprawled out on the floor, bulges and wounds littering their skin. Ace hovered over the pathetic commanders, cracking his knuckles and yet still looking unsatisfied if the fury in his eyes expressed anything.

"Had enough yet? Or do I need to make myself clearer that you do not - and I repeat _NOT_ draw a mustache on _my_ face when I'm asleep!?" Ace furiously declared with burning resentment. (For some strange reason…)

"W-weh're schowy…" came a poor apology from the poor victims.

Izo mostly ignored the fuss and crossed straight through the open space the spectators oh so conveniently had formed to reach Whitebeard's massive "throne" (as the enormous chair would technically classify as), not failing to gain everybody's attention with his sudden gloomy attitude as he did.

Whitebeard himself had been staring on in bemusement at his son's antics but his attention benevolently shifted to Izo as the man brought himself in focus.

"What appears to be the matter, my son?" The big-hearted father kindly inquired, putting aside the tumult. (For now at least). The crowd instantly muted. Even Ace was immediately convinced to put off his punishment for a second to listen to his elder brother.

'_Izo?'_ Ace mentally implied in slight worry. He'd been chatting away carefreely with him mere minutes ago... had something happened..?

"News." Came an extraordinary brief summary from the man. That was literally the only explanation required. Eyes widened in realization.

_Oh. Of freaking course._

Without a word being exchanged between the two, Izo handed the giant man the papers in his hands, waiting for his reaction. The atmosphere tensed considerably as Whitebeard scanned the cursed newspaper. Nothing pleasant was to be expected that's for sure.

And true to the crew's horror, Whitebeard's expression soon strained into a very unhappy frown.

"Blasted brats! That was the sake meant to be delivered to the islands coming up!" The 69-year-old (believe it or not) man asserted, obviously immensely displeased.

The rest of the crew, however, seemed less than intimidated.

"Hold on, Sake? You telling us all this fuss was about Sake?" Jozu questioned, seemingly unsure how to take the… *ahem* "news…"

"NO! OF COURSE NOT!" Izo yelled, defending his pride, and once again astonished at his family's ability to jump to conclusions. "Just read the next part, Oyaji."

_Switch! Just as that, things returned to being taken as seriously as these news deemed it appropriate. _

With a nod, Whitebeard did as he was instructed. And a frown matching the one on Izo's face promptly spread across his infamous mustache-marked face as he read not only the headline but quickly also every pivotal detail the article implied.

"Well, I'll be damned… what's that cheeky Red-hair brat up to now?" He openly expressed.

_Good thing Marco was currently in the infirmary or he would've undoubtedly winced at the name. _

"What?" Ace was the first to speak his confusion. "Shanks? Nothing bad has happened to him, right?"

Considering he was a yonko close to being on par with Whitebeard, that was highly improbable, no. Still, Ace couldn't help but worry. He'd met the nice man, after all, gotten drunk and had one of the best parties ever with the red-haired crew. Plus the minor detail he once saved Luffy's life. For that, he still owed the man.

But the bunch were chill pirates, right? What could possibly lead to them popping up in the news…-

"Gurararara, nah, don't worry, Ace. It's nothing like that." The man's intrigued tone of voice at least somewhat alleviated Ace. Somewhat. Taking a last hungry glance across the sheet, Whitebeard cleared his throat, reading aloud for all to hear:

"_**Red-hair pirates devastate another 4 Marine-bases! **_

_On the 28th of October from periods spanning from 1 am - 12 pm, the Red hair-pirates once again continued in their barbarous acts of assault against Official Naval Stations. Since the preceding report, no less than 4 have been effectively annihilated! That adds up to a total of 9 just within the last week! Casualties are high and still being accounted for. The bases left in ruins will undoubtedly take months to be rebuilt. But what are the Red-haired pirates after? What could possibly have invoked their rage to such a sadistic degree? Who or what could possibly stop them? Plans to intervene with their upheaval is still being discussed. Until then, all we can do to prevent taking further damage is to raise marine activity in bases deemed at risk of an attack. We merely pray their animosity will not be directed towards innocent civilians, and that the havoc promptly will be resolved. Additional confirmation regarding this urgent matter will be issued as quickly as it can." _

Emotions were painstakingly mixed after Whitebeard finished his little rendition. Some were stunned. Others too confused to know how to react. And the remaining bunch plainly kept silent, pondering the information innerly and trying to come up with possible solutions for this mystery.

What… just… _what_ had they just laid ears upon? Sure… Shanks might be a pirate (one of the 4 _most_ powerful and influential to boot) but this just so - like really _really_ so - was not like him. Were the marines feeding BS to cover up some other incident? Lying about the red-hairs to gain spite against them from civilians?

"Oyaji, are you positive this isn't all just some big pile a' crap? Cause it sure sounds like it to me," Haruta admitted from his position on the floor. A few nods and quiet whispers seemed to agree with that assessment.

While the two crews only under extraordinarily rare conditions would consider each other "friends" the Whitebeard pirates weren't gullible enough to buy that Shanks would _actually_ do something like this.

…

...

_Right..? _

Much to the crews, displeasure, however, their eldest snickered at their disapproval.

"Well think that if you want. It's got nothing to do with us after all, but there _is_ a picture." The man defended, only now turning the newspaper so everybody could stare dumbfounded at it.

_True to his words, there was. A grey tinted picture with a burning Marine post in the background… and somehow… somehow, in the foreground, Shanks along with all those infamous recognizable trusted crewmates of his were waltzing through a hell zone of injured, rubble, broken weapons, and fire. _

_The picture must have been taken moments before the unfortunate photographer was ended too, considering Shanks stared indignantly and directly into the camera with eyes that could kill. _

Izo said absolutely nothing. Thatch believed he was getting old and his eyes were starting to fail him. Jozu's expression strained as clear annoyance over his ignorance was allowed shown. Haruta forgot to blink as his eyes widened to a size where they probably should have popped out of his head.

_And Ace… Ace for some damned reason was hit like a punch to gut as that incomprehensible feeling of guilt and oversight from yesterday returned tenfold._

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

"HelloOooooO? Is anybody home?" Luffy's shouts were drowned out by the rumbling rain hammering against the ground and roofs of the wooden huts, which, miraculously still remained intact. His question, however, was a valid one. The sad little village was practically a ghost town. Abandoned from the looks and sounds of it.

The teen peered inside the window of the little shack ahead of him. It was pitch dark. Soulless, lifeless, and without a single sign of recent human activity.

"W-well this is weird…" he whispered to himself, teeth chattering from the cold. He was lucky his straw hat kept the water out of his eyes. That meant he at least was able to keep his eyes open, but the rest of his body was still getting drenched by the icy water. At least all the fresh and dried blood was finally getting washed off. But standing out in the open during a tropical downpour really wasn't optimal, that's for sure.

'_Well, if this place is empty, that means no one can tell me _not _to enter, r-right?' _ Luffy mentally reasoned, nodding profoundly, and immediately agreeing with his own logic. The specific cute little building Luffy sought to enter had one of those red crosses - the ones from the first-aid kits he, Ace, and Sabo always used to bandage their wounds with - hanging above the door.

_After all that struggling just to get _this _far, some medicine would do wonders. Hopefully._

It smelled strongly of herbs inside. And it was still chilly. While there in the corner stood a fireplace with dusty books and papers stacked on top, it, most unfortunately, wasn't lit. But the ash and logs loaded inside suggested it _had _been not so long ago…

The shack was messy at best. Bookshelves balanced against every single wall, a desk overflowing with crumpled papers and multiple pens (for some reason) was fit in between some, and a mattress with an undone bed laid sloppily in the middle of the floor. A single _real _bed - probably designed for patients only - was the only thing in the room that _didn't_ look like Luffy and Ace had just sparred on top of it.

Quickly scanning over the interior, something of actual value quickly caught Luffy's eyes, causing the boy to smile. He chipperly stumbled across the floor, soon examining the many many bottles of medicine packed onto the shelf.

_Alright! Doctors always prescribed this stuff to people when they weren't feeling well, didn't they? _

Luffy happily looked over and closely inspected some of the colorful jars. Unfortunately, his heart dropped as he quickly came to the problematic realization the labels were pure utter gibberish.

_Man…! Doctors were supposed to be smart, weren't they? Why didn't they just write what was actually _in _those stupid bottles then?_

The straw-hatted teen pouted in disappointment.

_Now what? He had a feeling it wasn't safe to just inject himself with mystery-substances…_

Luffy pondered the thought when he suddenly noticed a generously sized leather messengerbag sitting unused in the corner. He hesitated only a little as he went over to pick it up off the floor, an idea slowly developing.

He _didn't_ really have time to wait for the inhabitants to return… those jerks could possibly catch up to him if he didn't soon find a way off the island… _plus_, it's not like it would be his first time taking something without permission… although he did have the means to pay this time...

'_Maybe I can just... write a letter and... leave behind the money?' _Luffy mentally debated, already looking around for paper and a pen for his scribbling. He spotted the required things at the huts' desk.

_Yosh._

The teen staggered his way thereto. Lucky for him, Sabo and Makino had forced him to learn to write and read a time long ago. He'd been incredibly dubious of the boring lectures at the time, but both had argued that he couldn't become pirate king without even knowing how to do _that_ much. So he'd sucked up his boredom and begrudgingly put up with sitting still and listening. At least for longer than he would under other circumstances.

"Alright," Luffy muttered, proudly grinning.

'_Deer doctor guy or lady. Took som stuff. But theres money for yu. _

_-Luffy' _

His little note read. He left his 30.000 Beli on the side. That was all his money gone, but oh well. He could always dine n' dash for food as soon as felt better, right?

With that little inconvenience solved, Luffy circled around, snatched the messenger bag off the floor, and then back to the bookshelf where he began sweeping the shelves.

Even if _he_ had absolutely no clue what was in those things, at least _some_ of them were bound to be what he actually needed, right? If he just... took enough of the stuff and then eventually met someone who actually _would_ know what they were doing, then that'd mean extra free medicine for him, right?

_Ah - but he was leaving money behind right now so he wouldn't be stealing…. did that mean it wasn't free…? Hmmmm…._

...

_Well, whatever. _

"Ah-! Right, better get some bandages too." Luffy responsibly realized. Yeah, he was pretty damn tired of running around in his current filthy, dirty, bloody - and admittedly, on the verge of very itchy and uncomfortable - ones. At least if anything, he _did_ know how to apply those himself after his many years spent training on Mt. Corvo.

After a little fiddling around and countless drawers opened, he managed to locate some laying on top of even more books. Go figure. He couldn't help but smile, though, as he stuffed them into his overflowing bag, and, with just a little fiddling, zipped it shut.

_Hey!_ _This was great. Maybe with the exception of __needing some food, things__ finally weren't so bad any longer…!-_

_***CRAAAAAASSSSHHSHSSSSSS***_

...And with that thought, a deafening boom followed by a radiating glow suddenly struck right outside the small safe perimeter of the hut. Luffy instinctively tossed both arms across his head and ears to block out the resonating crash of the lightning, having grown alarmingly jumpy to such loud crashes.

"G-geez… that was really loud-" Luffy stopped himself as his upheaved senses picked up on something just outside - even through the rain.

_Hold on, were those… voices?_

"GWAH! TOO DAMN CLOSE!" A startled man cried.

_Oh crap!_

Panic immediately surged through the teen as he grasped a tight hold around his freshly packed bag of necessities and leaped to the frontal wall, making sure he ducked under its window to hide his presence.

And then… he just _eeeeeever_ so carefully peeked his head up to examine the newcomers.

'_Gah! Not them again!'_

Immediately, the teen's face churned in great displeasure as he, unfortunately, recognized the pursuers. And yet strangely, the guys who wanted to capture him before were suspiciously absent...

"ARE YOU REALLY SURE IT'S A GOOD IDEA TO BE MOVING IN THIS THUNDERSTORM, ROB LUCCI-SAMA!?" The subordinate had to yell to outshout the rowdy storm. Luckily for Luffy, that meant he could effortlessly listen in on their conversation.

"THIS VILLAGE LOOKS DESERTED..." Another doubtingly pointed out as if that wasn't obvious.

"DON'T BE FOOLED! SECURE AND CHECK THE PERIMETER THIS INSTANT! IN HIS CURRENT CONDITION, THIS IS ABOUT AS FAR AS HE'D GET!" Lucci himself sternly declared, impatience and desperation impeding in his voice.

"YESSIR!"

_Crap….! Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap_CRAP!

Luffy panicked as he heard doors getting kicked in and footsteps rushing through the mud outside. He gave his own hiding space a quick lookover, but there was nothing to hide behind or under. Just a single door between two shelves.

_Well, _that _certainly seemed safer than using the front door._

He shot up - heart racing as he lurched to the wooden door and tore it open, only to reveal a minuscule bathroom containing a toilet, shower, sink, and a single round and narrow window hanging just barely within Luffy's reach.

_Alright! With his rubber body, he might just be able to squeeze through that!_

Not wasting another single precious second, Luffy firstly removed his heavy bag of meds to try and squish it through the hole. At first, it seemed to be far too stuffed, but with some resilience and few headbutts, it soon safely dropped to the outside with some "_clinks!"_.

_Now just for himself…!_

His body was all shaky and weak from the suspense. _Focus, though, focus._ Hands first, Luffy leaped off the ground to the high-hanging exit, managing to get head, shoulders, and just barely his chest through before the squeeze became too tight.

After a few dreadful seconds of wiggling, it quickly became horrifyingly apparent he wasn't going anywhere. With his straw hat pushed to his neck, the rain pounded against his head.

"Come on…!.. COME _ON_!" Luffy whisper-yelled struggling harder. His heart skipped a beat as the sound of another door violently getting forced open sounded behind him.

"_COME ON! THIS IS ONE OF THE LAST HOUSES-!"_

_They were coming. _

_NO! Nononononononononononononono! He couldn't get himself caught here like this!_

Fueled by his sheer desperation, adrenaline rushed through Luffy's entire being. He resolutely clenched his teeth, held in his breath - now pushing for full force with his supposed well-trained arms - black dots soon materializing before his eyes from the hard effort until eventually-

_Plop. _

...

_He was free._

There was not a single spare second to be wasted on celebrating, however, as immediately, Luffy snatched his bag and tumbled across the marshy soil - under the cover of a nearby bush for safety, and in order to catch his breath.

He just barely got to pull the messenger bag to his chest before a distressed-looking suited man carrying a signature riffle appeared in the window, peering through it for any sign of Luffy.

"Tch…! NO GOOD! THIS ONE'S EMPTY TOO!" He bitterly reported. Ocean's of relief poured over Luffy's entire being at that, allowing the teen to relax just ever so slightly. All air had left his lungs, but thanks to the storm, he wasn't worried anybody would hear his hoarse breaths.

Although the rain drowned out his footsteps, Luffy watched the jerkass ignorantly walk away, probably to regroup with the others. Leaving Luffy to his lonesome (or maybe not so much...) self under the bush to actually process what had just happened.

The rain wasn't as fierce under the protectiveness of leaves and branches. And the thunder Luffy could block out simply by covering his ears. He maybe should be thankful, though. If not _for_ the storm, Pigeon-bastard and his fellow jackasses might have actually snuck up on him. He drew in comforting breaths, for just this short moment savoring how he had the time to calm down and think straight.

_He had to get outta there. _

_Now._

If there was one thing - _one _thing - he and those bastards had in common, it was their tenacity. Since they had even the slightest hint that he was actually here, they would probably tear down this entire forest as long as they were convinced he hadn't left the island.

Taking in one last stomach-deep breath of conviction, Luffy soon rolled onto his stomach - biting his lips from the aching irritation of his wounds but ignoring that nonetheless - to carefully listen for enemies. There were shouts in the distance, but no footsteps. Good.

Luffy determinedly clenched both his swollen, bloodied and battered fists, and then stealthily hurried across the ground on his stomach, dragging his bag along as he reached the safety of the hut's walls. After pushing a little to sit up, Luffy leaned against the wet surface of the planks, shifting over ever so carefully to peek his head around the corner and get an idea of Lucci and the others' location.

"Have all the houses been rummaged through!? And you claim there's still no sign of him?!" Lucci's voice rang, almost in a scolding manner.

"W-well we did manage to find this! Money! And a letter from Monkey D. Luffy as an apology for taking medicine to treat his injuries!"

Luffy grimaced in great displeasure, wanting to stick out his tongue at the stupid suit-guy who had found his stupid letter.

'_It's not meant for you guys! Put it back!' _He mentally demanded, pretending they could hear and would actually adhere to that demand.

_...Well... whatever…! Just all the more reason to hurry his ass up and get away quickly. Since the entire squad so conveniently had gathered in the center of the village, Luffy could just peacefully retreat to the depths of the jungle, be extra EXTRA careful to just go in any direction that didn't lead back here too, and then…-_

…

_Well… then what? Did this island even have a harbor with ships he could stow away on? He for sure didn't know how to build a raft, much less navigate safely…-_

_***CRRRAAASSSHHHHHHHH***_

The sound of another bolt of lightning crashing down caused Luffy to jump from timidity. _A hurtful memory of a canon briefly came to mind from the loud noise_.

The 14-year old tugged at his straw hat, letting it cover his ears before looking up and studying the blackish sky.

_He frowned deeper, suddenly getting a very bad impression of the stormy clouds. _

The dark clouds rumbled and crackled strangely… Luffy's stomach suddenly churned severely, causing Luffy to (for a moment) stop breathing completely. Suddenly, another light flashed and another thunderbolt crashed.

_Only this time, Luffy and the hut were unfortunate enough to be caught in its path._

It was in this exact instance Luffy decided that lightning or anything and anybody related to it was probably meant to be his natural enemy.

The puny little wooden shack, of course, took excessive damage. Luffy was flung forward in a painful thrust onto his stomach as the boards either disintegrated or exploded outward, sending flaming wood or destroyed furniture and probably irreplaceable medical records everywhere.

Luffy coughed loudly as dirt and ash were kicked up into the surrounding air and got in his mouth and eyes. The rain helped that settle almost immediately, though, but the feeble house was vulgarized to a mere pile of black burnt rubble nevertheless. Lightning might have done nothing to harm Luffy - a rubber human, - but the destruction of his hiding place left him very exposed.

_The probability of this happening was so damn ridiculous it was worth laughing over. If not for the reality of this occurrence, of course._

The agents all stared with blank stupefied expressions straight at their target, who they by some miracle had managed to miss completely up until the weather's interference. The anxious straw-hatted boy barely had time glance in their direction as instinctively, Lucci's entire body toughened, and he immediately disappeared in a blur of speed, frenzied eyes locked on Luffy's small helpless being.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY THIS TIME, MONKEY D. LUFFY!"

Luffy stiffened in agitation as Lucci roared his name, but the defenseless 14-year old could barely even cross his scrawny arms for protection in time as Lucci reappeared before him, delivering a vigorous kick (that for sure would have left a none-rubber human unconscious) straight to Luffy's face (arms?), and send him soaring backward with Lucci right on his tail.

"So fast!"

"And the ground's slippery too!"

Luffy's body crashed into a tree from the surrounding forest, forcing him to let out a pained cry thanks to his pre-existing injuries, although before he could even drop to the ground, a forearm was forcibly pressed against Luffy's neck, effectively pinning him to the trunk of the tree.

Luffy groaned as his air-supply was almost cut off, his arms immediately reaching to pull away Lucci's arm. That almost immediately proved futile. The blazing eyes of the two iron-willed souls met, staring fiercely into each other for a few short daunting seconds.

Luffy broke their staring contest shortly after, however, by delivered his captor a few pitiful kicks to the side as another apparent attempt at breaking free.

"Give it up," Lucci ordered resolutely, this time hell-bent on _not_ letting the brat escape.

His threat earned the Cp-agent nothing but an intensified glare from the child.

"...Go to hell!" He rasped, and true to that statement Luffy was. Suddenly, Luffy directed another kick straight at Lucci's unguarded lowest private part- indeed a dirty move coming from a boy - but it proved significantly efficient as Lucci (of freaking course) winced in great pain and lost his grip around Luffy's neck, allowing the teen to drop to the ground.

He wasted not another second for Lucci to recover from that before he set off in a sprint, clinging to the messengerbag to prevent the glass-bottles (that still miraculously were intact) from shattering.

"He's getting away!"

"Stop him, _NOW_!"

Some of the spectating agents set off in a frantic sprint after the teen, whilst others imprudently began firing bullets at the escapee, seemingly forgetting about Luffy's immunity to them.

Luffy's heart was about to burst out of his chest. With all the running he'd been doing lately - even whilst injured - you'd believe his body would learn to suck up the pain and not just increase it every time his damn life depended on it. Ignoring the bullets that hit and were deflected off him, he turned his head to look at the adult men steadily gaining speed on him. They weren't far behind. As expected. Fortunately, their increasing pace only further pumped Luffy with determination and adrenaline as he stumbled on forward, faster.

'_Hurry…!' *huff* 'HURRY!' _Luffy thought in between the painful panting and aching steps.

Lucci watched in incredulity as his men rushed past him, but Luffy _still_ slowly slipped away into the forest. No doubt, hiding in the dense jungle-like terrain was his best shot at eluding them.

_But damn. For one so injured and small, he could really deliver a kick when the stakes were important enough. _

The pain, sudden as it had been, however, was quickly diminishing and Lucci's crouched position eased considerably.

_Silent rage was boiling inside the man._

"Rob Lucci-sama! Are you alright!?" a distressed agent asked, clearly affected by the chaos.

"Yes…" the leopard-Zoan user replied almost immediately, annoyance painstakingly obvious in his voice. He glared in the direction he knew Luffy had fled, menacingly and slowly rising to his feet as a vein popped on his drenched forehead.

"I thought I told you… **_YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" _**

With that heated exclamation, Lucci suddenly leaped into the air, did a very impressive mid-air kick, and without warning, sent a slash of compressed air in Luffy's - and his own subordinate's - direction.

Everything standing in the attack's path was effortlessly slashed in clean half. Trees, tall bushes, and all the greenery were shaved into pieces. And as were the vulnerable agents who had merely been trying to hardest to do their job. Deep cuts - just barely above lethal - were etched onto their backs, and with a single gut-wrenching shriek of anguish, all collapsed to the ground in defeat.

Luffy was the only one with enough to distance to actually duck under the slash. The fortunately small boy threw himself to the ground, _just_ escaping unscathed by a litteral _hair_. He continued to roll uncontrollably, though, and within the next second, the ground suddenly slanted downwards in an extraordinarily steep and very muddy and slippery slope, merely increasing his speed.

_Luffy couldn't stop. Simply look ahead in outright horror at the big streaming _river _ahead. As if he wasn't already drenched to the bone. _

The rubber-fruit user weakly tugged his muddy luggage to his equally muddy chest, closed his eyes, and send a silent small prayer to the God above that he'd somehow survive this.

_Next thing he knew, his head and soon entire body was swallowed up by the icy waters. _

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

Lucci clenched his sharpened teeth as he stared into the perilous river.

_Dammit! For freak's sake, that damned monkey had slipped away again! Quite literally this time! What kind of devilish luck did that boy_ _have to continuously evade the supposed greatest agency of the world-dominating World _Government!? Him! _A single _child!

Damn it was frustrating. If not for his devil-fruit power, Lucci wouldn't even have hesitated to jump in after the little punk.

"Rob Lucci-sama!"

The unscathed agents rushed up behind their commander, paying the fact he'd just mercilessly injured probably half of their troops absolutely no mind.

"Go! After him! If he's dead, then retrieve his corpse at all cost!" Lucci ordered, eyes still ablaze from the irritation steadily increasing. The underdogs clearly felt and sympathized with their leader's annoyance, though.

"Come on! No time to be wasted!" an agent hysterically yelled, and instantly, the squad dispersed - some following the path of the river and the rest heading back to report straight to HQ. An unfortunate mandatory process whenever something like this happened.

Lucci was, of course, not so lazy as to not join in on the chase himself. Heck, he was far more capable than any of these morons for that matter. But for just a moment, he stared and growled.

'_This isn't over! Just you wait, Monkey D. Luffy!'_

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

Luffy coughed vividly as he desperately clung to the sand of the shore for dear life.

His muscles were close to paralyzed from his trashing in the icy river and his breath once again unsteady, hoarse, and painful for his exhausted lungs. Although maybe that wasn't a bad thing. His heart had been racing too fast for him to lose consciousness while underwater, which in turn allowed him to crawl free from the river as soon as it had turned shallow enough that he could move.

For now, he just laid flat on his tummy in defeat, not even caring that the sand stuck to his clothes, remaining bandages, face, or hair. All his pain was replaced by a nearly numbing sensation, due to the cold. He was probably lucky this island had a very lukewarm temperature, or he'd die from hyperthermia before any of his other injuries could do him in.

The world was still spinning. Rough as it was, though, that river must have carried him at least a mile or two. Honestly, there was probably no better way to get away from the Pigeon-bastard.

_Served them right. _

While his vision hadn't completely returned, Luffy's head felt at least clear enough to think a little bit.

He laid in a strangely unpleasant silence as the rain - now much less violent than earlier, Luffy noticed - peacefully dripped against his back and ran down his motionless body.

_Why did it always have to be like this?_

"That pigeon-bastard… he's strong…" Luffy quietly groaned under his own breath.

_He couldn't help but think back to their first encounter just a mere month or so back. He had been able to easily catch and stop even his Gomu-Gomu no Pistol - his strongest move which he had been significantly improving for the past 7 _years…

Breathing steadying, the teen calmly slipped one of his swollen fists under his tummy, immediately feeling the blood - fresh and old - that originated from that cut on his abdomen. A scar - Kay had said that would leave. A scar _he_ had been allowed to ingrain on his flesh.

_Even just now - when Lucci easily had sliced all those trees and stuff in half - their gap in power had been made painstakingly crystal clear. _He _was superior. Far superior, indeed. And all Luffy could do was tuck in his tail and run. If that didn't work, well then his only option was to run even faster._

"…"

"...I need... to get stronger…" Luffy softly told himself.

Sure, that had always been a goal of his. After Sabo died, Luffy _had_ set it as his life-long goal to become strong enough to protect everyone he cared about. That he'd already failed at. Pretty horribly even.

He just plainly could _not_ remain this way. He was still too weak. Too weak to even protect _himself_. Too weak to defeat a single dastardly Pigeon-bastard who probably more than anybody deserved to get his ass handed to him. And there were still people stronger than him out there, Luffy was sure. People he _would_ have to defeat to one day to become the pirate king

...

_***BANG!***_

_Jolt!_

...

"Hu...Huh?"

_The sound of a gun suddenly going off in the distance followed by some bizarre squawks that for sure only could stem from an animal - _that _snapped Luffy out of his thoughts. _

The teen blinked in confusion as he cautiously pushed himself onto his elbows to stare off into the direction of the strange noise. As he listened closer, there actually was some distant squabbling. This time, definitely from humans.

His brows furrowed in puzzlement.

"What's going on?" He asked himself.

Steadily, he began to stomach his way across the sand to some nearby bushes where he poke his head through.

_But he wasn't at all amused by what he discovered, that's for sure. _

Firstly, seems he had wounded up on the outskirts of the forest again since the ocean and shore were now in plain view just up ahead. Though most peculiarly was the fact that… there at the edge of the island was… docked... a fine... _sizeable_... actually _sailable_ ship!

"But who are those guys? And what're they doing?" Luffy questioned, closely inspecting the humans standing in front of it - the ones who most probably owned the vessel. They weren't the only ones…

"..."

_Cages. They were littered all over. And inside them, the sparkly mysterious animals he so briefly had encountered earlier were trapped. _Captured_. To be used for whatever and _however _those bastards desired._

_Poachers, _Luffy promptly concluded, naturally feeling disgusted towards the despicable illegal traders.

"No, no, no, _NO_! I told you, the peacocks with rainbow feathers go in _last_. They, along with the lunar wolves, lucid frogs, and half-squirrel half-cheetahs are gonna be sold just over on the next island! We gotta stack em' so we don't waste too much time unpacking, or the navy might pick up on what we're doing!" A half-fat man with a stubby beard, cigarette, and barely any hair spat in the face of another.

"Well, it's not my fault! You should've been a little damn clearer, you shithead!" a boney pale man with a scar running across his face argued back.

The porches bickered childishly. Exactly as can be expected from full-grown men taking on such an atrocious task as smuggling helpless animals.

Sabo had once told Luffy about these supposed poachers, as long ago, some such people had come to Dawn Island looking for animals that could assist them in warfare. Probably something like… smuggle them to some innocent villages and then let them slaughter everyone to show off your strength kinda deal. Of course, he, Ace, and Sabo had beaten those bastards sorry, and until their faces were swollen, blue and fittingly unrecognizable (the beasts of Mt. Corva belonged to them after all). But Luffy would never forget his abhorrence from when he'd learned the meaning of that word.

_But still… they had a ship! They had a destination… and they knew how to get there. A whole three conveniences Luffy was majorly lacking. _

The teen gritted his teeth. Well, not that sneaking onboard was gonna be a problem. _That _he was basically a pro at after all his stealthy scurrying about… but still, it would be to allow them to take all these innocent animals away from their home… probably to be sold or killed so they could be displayed for some rich fancy-pants noble.

…

…

…

..._Still, though_... _did he even have a choice in his current crisis? You had to stay alive before you could focus on getting stronger at all… or reconcile with an older brother whose whereabouts Luffy still had no clue about..._

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

"Don't screw with me, Sengoku! How the hell is it that the supposed elite Cipher Pohl agency continues to allow the son of even the world's most _wanted_ criminal to roam free!? They should have finished off that damned little devil for good _weeks _ago!" A gruff, aggressive, and terribly impatient voice madly shouted.

"I understand that you're growing restless, but I must insist that you watch your tone, admiral Sakazuki. We just now received confirmation regarding his second escape. They're still looking and an update is to be expected any minute now," the fleet admiral reassured, though it was painstakingly eminent in his voice and strained grimace he too was tired of this incessant goose chase.

The admiral grunted, visibly displeased with that answer.

"This entire damn mess is starting to parallel that Ohara incident 17 years ago a little too closely for my liking…" he pointed out, a vein of aggravation popping on his forehead.

To that, Sengoku said nothing. But he had to silently agree with heated admiral.

Indeed, there was no point in trying to deny the similarities to the whole quandary with Nico Robin. And that boy meant serious trouble as well... As much as he felt terribly sorry for Garp that they chased his grandson while he was still just a child, the man he would eventually grow to become was a whole nother story. This time would be different. As the fleet admiral - head of the marines, an organization stretching further and containing more power than any other - he was at worst just _partly_ responsible to make sure of that.

Suddenly, Akainu, without a warning, began silently making his way for the door. No need to question where he was planning on going.

"Wait Sakazuki!-" Sengoku abruptly jumped from his chair, but ended up saying no more.

_No... maybe he was the one who needed to wait and properly think this over. There was surely no harm in allowing an admiral to address a matter as dire as this one. And this was Sakazuki after all. No doubt, he wouldn't feel appeased before he got to see the boy's corpse with his own two eyes._

Akainu momentarily stopped and shed his superior a sly impatient glance.

The elderly man grimaced, sighing deeply before rubbing his face - as if to prevent an incoming headache.

"...At least bring along one of the fleets that already were present during the Buster Call. Enough innocent marines have already been involved in this..." the fleet admiral begrudgingly requested.

"Will do," Akainu answered stoically. Not that he'd need their help beyond steering a battleship anyway.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Bogard calmly proceeded to step back from the wall he for the past few minutes had been leaning against, slowly walking away to some more... private quarters. The usual scowl was plastered on his face, hands deep in his pockets, and exterior unquestionably natural.

_Ah well, as natural as can be when you were helplessly sleep-deprived and constantly stressed out, worrying about the future of your closest friend - and of the world too, just for the hell of it. _

He soon reached the safe haven of his own office, but only after securely shutting the door and making himself comfortable in his office chair dared he pull out his pocket-sized den-den mushi.

"...So...did you get all of that, Shanks-san?"

The assistant was lucky it was lunch rush-hours, or his little innocent eavesdropping for sure would have been a little more difficult.

"Yes." A tired voice soon answered from the other end. Kinda hard not to with all the shouting those two had been doing. "Thanks for the trouble, Bogard."

After their last chat, the two men had come to a mutual agreement to secretly stay in touch, dangerous as it was. Of course, due to Garp's imprisonment, Bogard - as his closest associate - was currently restricted as well. He was under orders to not leave HQ under any circumstances and was not (at least supposed to) be making any phone calls whatsoever.

Bogard wasn't so naive as to think it would come without repercussions - even of the worst kind - if he was discovered delivering information to a Yonko... And yet still he'd somehow agreed to this crazy idea...

"_It was fine, though," _his unyielding loyalty to Garp told him. "_It's what Garp-san would do in your shoes anyway," _his guilt and pity for the man spoke. And it wasn't like he was sharing massive secrets that Shanks would use blackmail the government or some crazy traitorous crap like that. All he was doing was conveying information about a child - _a child he told himself_ \- one the big-hearted man cared deeply enough for to even ally himself with the very enemy that was hunting him.

_And he feared his guilt would consume him if he let the government kill Garp's grandson while the vice-admiral was powerless. But he wouldn't do any more for the child he'd never even met, should worst come to worst. _

"You're at Sabaody now if I'm not mistaken?" Bogard clarified. Yeah, of freaking course. Cause otherwise, no way was a baby den-den getting through.

"Yes. Seems luck is on our side. We'll make sure that damn Sakazuki doesn't get anywhere close to Luffy, mark my words on that."

"_Gacha."_

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

Luffy let out a breath of relief when the last poacher finally slammed the wooden door, and with a faint "_click!_" locked it shut.

It wasn't at all difficult to sneak on board. While those two lame-brains from before had still been arguing, Luffy had innocently snuck his way around them with the aid of some of the bigger cages, the animals trapped inside making them a little less see-through.

Since they were still loading on kidnapped animals, the entrance had conveniently stood wide open. The rest of the minuscule crew, of course, was also busy dealing with their inconvenient cargo, Luffy discovered after briefly watching 2 other sweaty guys carry small-ish cages from island to ship.

It wasn't hard finding a hiding place either. The ship was a total mess, but with only four different doors and a single staircase, even _Luffy_ hadn't taken that long to settle on remaining underdeck in the biggest of the rooms where the poachers' preys were kept.

The hardest part was keeping the stuffed messangerbag full of glass-bottles from clinking constantly. And then, of course, to wait it out until all humans left his hiding zone.

It really wasn't difficult to estimate why no guards were assigned to watch over the creatures from the inside, though. The smell was… well, like a whole lot of mystery creatures not being able to hold it in anymore.

_Ah well, Luffy had experienced worse. Like the inside of a crocodile's stomach for instance. _

He'd temporarily settled for hiding between the cages of some crocodiles with shiny fish scales and a couple of oversized raccoons with horns. But that wouldn't do in case somebody came in and did a round to feed the creatures.

It was pretty dark inside of there. Only a few lanterns lit up the windowless jail, but Luffy suspected it was more for the convenience of the humans entering and leaving more so than for the animals.

With a pained groan and through gritted teeth, the teen soon began rising slowly to his feet with the support of the animal cage's steel bars. His head spun a little again from the sudden position shift, but it was easily ignored. Luffy began slowly wobbling his way forward through the labyrinth of enclosures, eyes scouring for any potential resting spots.

He felt sick. Maybe it was just his injuries' doing, but he did really feel like vomiting, helplessly watching the confined families of exotic mystical creatures cluster together in discomfort in their unnatural cages.

_Their glossy pleading eyes looked so sentient… so sad… like they knew what fate was in store for them. And they were all turned straight at him as if that wasn't enough of a stab of culpability straight to the heart._

Luffy came to a brief stop, grabbing onto the cool metal bars and staring with guilt-filled eyes down at a pack of cuddling white and silver monkeys. The smallest of the three - a baby basically - was warmly embraced by the two bigger ones, almost as if they were trying to protect the cub.

"...I'm sorry you guys… I... promise… I'll free you all later, ok?" Luffy dryly guaranteed with a lump clustering his throat. He'd certainly do his best to stand by that vow.

"..."

"..."

"...Hey!" A hoarse unidentifiable voice suddenly very unexpectedly whisper-yelled.

Luffy bounced from fear, having _not_ expected to hear that, and instantly bolted away from the monkeys' cage as to get farther away from the mystery voice.

_Crapcrapcrap! Had he accidentally allowed somebody to sneak up on him!?_

"Hey! Hey! It's ok! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, promise!" It quickly reassured. Luffy frantically looked around for the owner, only a few seconds later noticing the shadowy silhouette of…- wait- not just one, but a close a dozen - humans, just a few 10s of feet away.

_Only… they too… were sitting behind bars. Locked up. Like the animals. _

Confusion overtook the teen. He almost immediately calmed down and then hesitantly began slowly approaching the strangers.

Most of them appeared to be moderately injured, but peacefully asleep nonetheless. Luffy spotted a few children resting on their mothers' laps, some couples holding hands, and others just snuggling together for comfort. The 1 man still awake immediately locked his disbelieving eyes on the boy, looking just as discombobulated as Luffy felt.

"What's going on?... Who are you people?" Luffy timidly asked.

"I'd like to ask you that, little guy. What's a child as injured as you doing on _this_ ship?" The gentlemen worriedly inquired, giving Luffy an appalled look-over now that he stood closer.

"You didn't answer my question. Who _are_ you guys? Why are you locked up?" The 14-year old insisted.

"Not even gonna tell your own name before asking that? Well fine. I'm the mayor of Fauna's only and nameless village. The rest of the guys you see here are the remaining inhabitants. We were all captured a little while ago when we tried defending the priceless, wild, and exotic animals of our home island from those dastardly poachers..."

* * *

**And that's that. Any questions or doubts towards it I'll happily clarify next time (as long as they aren't spoilery)**

**Continue to stay safe, please! Oh-! And cookies to all you guys who favorite, review, and follow and all that heavily appreciated stuff. Just breached 200 favorites, so yay! OwO**

**Reviews:**

* * *

**Eliphas-Chaos: Welp, here you go! UwU But no worries, I can guarantee Ace and Luffy will eventually learn about Garp. **

**AysaWolf: XD. Waahhhhh! So close, I know! Ahhhhh! It'll probably (depending on if I suddenly get punched by an idea that simply must not be let out) be a chapter or 2 before we see the Whitebeard's again, though. But yeah, Lucci pissed off as hell right now, good lord Luffy got away from there XD. I can promise you Luffy will receive help from someone we're quite aquatinted with soon, though, so... there's that at least! OwO **

**BlueHeartNina: Yup, damn straight. And here's the chap.**

**Haruki Hitomi: Well thank you! And you're so absolutely welcome! :D**

**Jennifer: Ahahahahaha... *nervous laughter.* Well, we're just a few chapters away from that happening, so sit tight! **

**Demon-night24: Aww, thanks. Damn... there's really a lot of stuff to consider, though, huh? XD I hope I can at least keep it enticing for just a little while longer until we reach the reunion!**

**Madeline Leicht: *sweats* ahahaha... (I swear, I have no clue how it's happened either! O-O)**

**Sophia-Mendes Coruja: Hi Sophia! You're as chipper and so absolutely lovable as ever! Thank you SO much for the lengthy review, you really helped me push through on this one! :D *tight rubbery huggo to you!* But to your compliment, I say yeah, I've found I amazingly prefer to write action scenes over lengthy, thoughtful, emotionally triggering, or explanations of the sort. Is that weird? Am I weird cause I like that...? XD - ah, but anyway, now Luffy's equipped with medicine, and since there was a house for the doctor in the village, that means that, of course, there's gonna be one among the imprisoned villagers... so things'll hopefully get better! :D Also THE REUNION ISN'T _THAT_ FAR AWAY ANY LONGER! XD SO damn excited to get to write that I tell you! - But also about something that's gonna happen _just_ before that... hehe... :) ****COOKIES AND SUNSHINE TO AN AWESOME HUMAN BEING! (Oh btw, I sent you a PM, and it would greatly alleviate my anxiety if you took a quick look at it and possibly sent a reply...? Thanks! :D) **

**Greer123: Well, you're very welcome! But Luffy's trust of other people will be a fun little thing to focus on once he's safe... just really all the trauma he's suffered through he's sure to be helped overcome in the end!**

**kuranxkisaragi: Ah, yes, Lucci... I guess if nothing, he at least serves as a reason for Luffy to want to grow stronger while he's still alive, right..? XD (His fate shall remain secret for now, though...) And YES, FOR SURE! ACE C'MON! ;) Anyhow, thanks for the review and well wishes! UwU**

**GeekyWolf101: Thank you! Greatly appreciated! OwO**

**Lusamine: Well thanks. It, admittedly, takes a little brain-squeezing sometimes to make sense of it all. XD. About Robin; yes, I would _definitely_ like to incorporate her into this story at some point. Hers and Luffy's situations are so similar I even bring it up a lot in the story, after all. The timeline kinda makes it a little hard right now, though...XD This is 3 years before canon, meaning Luffy's 14 and Robin thereby would be 25. She joined Baroque Works at age 24... soooo. I imagine Luffy's currently somewhere close to Jaya, already past Alabasta :/ (any bright ideas XD?) It could of course just happen later on after Luffy's safe and he then hears a rumor about her. Or maybe the Whitebeards travel to Alabasta or something...? Or the other way around, that Robin hears about Luffy and then at one point when they're close to Alabasta, she seeks him out or the like? (Since she was shown to travel on her own at times too) I have vague ideas, but any suggestions would definitely be appreciated! :D**

**Sofia Du Ciar: Well I _can _definitely promise you that much! :D**

**silverrayn123: Hi Silver! Missed you too! Yeah, that was _reeeeaaaaally_ close, huh? So close Ace now is in on the fact somethings wrong! He's definitely sure to feel guilty about all this...XD Well, hopefully, things will work out in the end for them! **

**Poseidon1000: Thanks my dude/gal.**

**Caraline Fisher: Thank you! I'm doing... not too badly at least, so that's good, right XD? Well, bright wishes right back at' ya! :D**

* * *

**Things are definitely heating up. Hang on just a little longer, cause stuff's about to go down soon enough! (hehe)**

**Updates are, of course, to be expected as there will be no abandoning this story.**

**-_Cookie_.**


	15. Prisoners

**So. Returning back here and checking when I last updated this thing, I realized that had I waited another single day, it would have been exactly 2 months. Which I found *sweats* kinda hillarious. **

**First of all, I took a bit of a break to more carefully plan out the next many chapters so I actually know what I'm doing. That took some time but felt so neccesarry and satisfying that once I was done, I was definitely happy I decided to do it. **

**Secondly, because my country is pretty much reopened again and the hospital also is back in bussiness, I've also been dealing with that, and it's honestly been pretty exhausting. **

**And lastly, which is the biggest factor here, I hit my first serious road-block when suddenly I just COULD NOT figure out HOW to write anymmore. No joke, a month passed just with writing the 2nd half of this chapter and I'm still pretty iffy about it -_- **

**Regardless, this has been quite the ridiculous break and chapter 14 is here at last! Allow me to just give a quick shout-out to Lusamine who helped me immensely by sending me a PM that gave me some inspiration for the future I'm really excited about getting to! You've been a great help, thank you for the trouble! :D**

**Also, without giving away any spoilers, let me just apologize in advance for any potential OOCness you might expirience in this chapter. I tried, I really did, but I don't know how it turned out really ****O-O Also, as I'll so often say, this chapter isn't the most exciting or revolutionary - or even longest - thing that's totally worth the wait, (personally, I'm really excited about the chapter coming up after the _next_ one) so, there's that too TwT**

**Let me also just tack on an extra warning for this particular chapter in case you're very easily disgusted by injuries. It's not too bad (at least I definitely tried not to make it?), but just know it's in there :)**

_**Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :)**_

* * *

**Chapter 14: Prisoners**

Luffy stared with his weary eyes in honest confusion at the self-proclaimed mayor.

"Why would poachers capture you guys? I thought they wanted animals?" The teen questioned, as his knowledge of such dirty business, fortunately, was limited.

The mayor scoffed, apparently having a pretty damn good idea himself.

"It doesn't surprise me. These guys are as greedy and loathsome as any pirate out there… unless something's done, we'll all be separated and sold off to different noble households as slaves, all so they can get a little extra pocket-money." The elder's sheer disgust for the men's actions was indisputably displayed in his bitter voice.

Luffy paid the whole "as-bad-as-any-pirate-out-there" assessment no mind (_he_, at least, knew that wasn't true), but grimaced at the man's full explanation, absolutely no less appalled than the mayor.

"Those bastards…! If I wasn't hungry or at full strength, I'd totally kick their asses!" Luffy grumbly declared, pouting as he stared at the ceiling where he knew the crew was walking just above them.

It _was _quiet in the prison - to such an extreme that the poacher's undeserved laughter and the soft tapping of their footsteps could be heard clearly through the wooden boards. It was unnatural for a room overflowing with animals. But beasts weren't meant to be locked in cages either.

The mayor, however, having not expected Luffy to use _those_ words, blinked blankly for a _solid_ 3 seconds. His bemusement, however, soon became too much, and he couldn't stop a whole-hearted genuine merry outburst of laughter, of course, unaware Luffy was actually serious about his proclamation.

_Ok, it was official. He already liked this strange boy._

"Can't say I've heard that one before, sonny! And although it's very considerate of you to get angry on the animals' and our behalf, you should probably be tending to those injuries of yours before anything," the stranger noted, his voice quickly growing dim once more. He couldn't admit to finding pleasure in the sight of children covered in blood.

"What even in this dejected ever-slum godforsaken world of ours happened to you boy? It's difficult to receive injuries as grave as those unless you're deliberately trying to wound yourself," the elder half-joked with a bitter smile.

Luffy provided the man no disclosure to that little worry of his, disinterested in explaining all the mayhem that was to blame for his current condition. Chances were fair the man wouldn't believe him anyway - the marines considered to be the good guys but still obliterating an entire island and all. Though that Luffy didn't care about. He didn't need the condolence of some old geezer anyhow.

The mayor quickly took note of Luffy's silence as an unfortunate sign he wasn't gonna answer him.

That certainly didn't help alleviate his concerns for the poor boy, sure, but he immediately decided to just drop the subject. The world was such a harsh heartless place after all - filled to the brim with tragedy and, fittingly, equally as many children who had to endure said adversity. All alone even, in some instances…. without the so absolutely essential love of a family or a warm home to return to.

Luffy might as well be one out of hundreds of thousands of bleeding souls. But regardless of that fact, he and the kid were still together now. Here. On the ship owned and controlled by a crew of damn poachers, the villagers captives and future slaves, and Luffy basically the equivalent of a walking corpse.

Of course he felt responsible for doing everything in his power to ensure that would change.

Suddenly, the sore old man began fumbling his way up onto his feet - his back and/or knees seemingly making that a decent challenge - all to then turn his back on the 14-year old and carefully step through the abundance of villager-bodies. His unstable movements might suggest the elder was more used to the support of a walking stick.

"What are you doing?" Luffy asked, not understanding his goal since the cage was locked.

"You sit tight my boy. We've got a doctor among us who can help you," he reassured, just a second before slowly bending over a young raven-haired beauty, gently placing a hand on her shoulder and lightly shaking her with the obvious intention of waking up the exhausted female. Luffy stared in silence, not about to complain if the mayor kept his word.

Few seconds passed before the supposed doctor-lady stirred. She, clearly sore after resting against the steel bars an hour or two too long, shifted in discomfort before blinking open her dark-blue eyes.

"..The hell..? Mayor-san? S' there trouble?" She sleepily questioned.

"Language my dear. But no worries. All's unfortunately still as before, but there's someone who needs your help."

The mayor pointed in Luffy's direction. The woman's expression upon finally spotting Luffy, however, was unreadable. Shocked, perhaps. Or maybe she was slightly put off by the fact a blood-soaked silhouette shaded by the prison's lanterns had appeared out of seemingly nowhere and was staring at her like some sort of horror movie.

"Who the hell's that?" She called out (still minding her voice, though, as to not wake up nearby children) but it didn't take long before she rose from her resting spot and began navigating her way to the cage's front bars, just to find out exactly that.

As Luffy's actual appearance became clearer, however, the doctor found herself immediately frozen, not even the tiniest bit amused by the wicked sight. Her mouth fell open as if she was about to comment, but no words left her lips.

"Holy sh-… that's… a lot…" She struggled to find the right word. A lot. Yeah, that was one way of describing it...

"Language," the mayor repeated. It honestly sounded like he was used to correcting the young lady. Especially considering how easily she seemed to dismiss his scolding.

"You, come over here," she commanded, amazement still apparent in her sharp voice.

Luffy - not minding the crude description of his injuries - slowly approached the cage of strangers, not entirely sure of how to react. This was good… right? Because the black-haired lady was a doctor?

He took off the burdensome medicine-bag which only seemed to grow increasingly heavy with each step and plopped it safely onto the ground before proceeding any further.

Impatience was written all over the doctor's face, however, and as soon as the teen was within arms reach, she grabbed his boney wrist and pulled him close, forcing him to plop into a sitting position on the floor in front of her. The sudden motion led the boy to flinch, but he didn't complain.

The mayor soon joined the pair on the floor, silently watching the doctor turn around and inspect the teen's hands. Knowing her, however, it probably wasn't the horrible condition of the bandages that irked her, but rather, the_ busted up_ cuffs locked around his wrists.

"What are these?" She asked, gently towing at one of the chains as if that'd get them off.

"Handcuffs," Luffy answered confused, not quite sure how a smart doctor didn't get that. They were annoying as all hell, even in their broken state, though. He couldn't move too well or fast when he was so drained 24/7.

"Well yes, I can see that…" She suppressed a headache with a sigh, patience dwindling quickly. Intelligence obviously wasn't one of this kid's strongest traits.

"I _meant_ to ask why you're stuck in these. How the hell are they broken?" She tried.

"-You're swearing in front of children as always...-"

"Hmmm… well, they broke when I was in that explosion. It really hurt afterward, so I couldn't move too well and didn't really have time to go look for the key," he casually explained.

"..."

"Wait...e-e...explosion? You… you survived such a thing?" The mayor asked with gaping (more like horrified?) eyes.

Luffy nodded. But it _had_ kinda been his fault that he got caught up in it in the first place.

"Well that explains the burns at least…" The doctor cut in, taking note of the black burnt edges of his clothes.

With a silent empty expression, the doctor began swiftly working to unwrap Luffy's bandages to get a full grasp at the severity of the wounds he'd let himself to get.

The mayor stared on helplessly in worry, attempting his hardest to remain as calm even with all the blood. He, however, couldn't keep in a gasp as Luffy's arms rapidly were freed, revealing a pair of fists that more closely resembled an adult's in size and looked like a train had been allowed to run across them. They looked sick in Luffy's eyes, but he wasn't quite sure if hands _or_ injuries worked like that.

"Turn around. I'll help you get off your vest," was all the lady doctor had to said to that. It would get worse. She knew. And no, she wasn't letting Luffy do anything with his hands right now.

Luffy silently complied. Despite the lady's sharp attitude, she was notably careful as she lifted the ripped fabric around his shoulders. (Maybe she just couldn't control what she was saying? Luffy speculated adults who always strangely seemed so upset about swearing in front of children wouldn't be fans of that.)

Luffy's red vest was stiff - thanks to the dried blood the doctor suspected - and had multiple buttons missing. It didn't serve much good as a shirt anymore. Heck, if Luffy hadn't been wearing it, she doubted she could have recognized it as one.

Putting that aside, she returned to untying Luffy, this time, his chest. The bandages were in poor condition. The only thing that had saved them from falling off until this point was how skillfully they'd been applied. Whoever was responsible had treated the boy with care if nothing.

Her movements became slower, as more skin became visible. The mayor's mouth fell open, while a flash of (… was it awe?) crossed her face. Astonishment shined in the medical professional's eyes at the reveal of his stomach-injury.

The area around the cut was burning red. And the cut itself looked a disgusting yellow mixed in with some black. Although the blood smeared all over his chest did well to hide it.

Luffy grimaced. It had been quite some time since he'd actually seen the repulsive mark. Although he was sure it wasn't supposed to look like that...

The woman stared. For the first 20 seconds at the gaping wound, and next with a flabbergasted straight look into Luffy's clueless eyes.

"Kid, how the hell were you standing just a little while ago?" She asked, dead serious despite her astonished tone of voice suggesting otherwise. A miracle. It was nothing short of a miracle he wasn't _dead_ yet.

"Is it as bad as it looks?" The mayor interrupted. The man averted his eyes, too nauseous to keep staring.

"I think _that_ goes without saying…" She sighed, feeling another headache incoming.

Suddenly, the look on her face shifted from stupefied to outright angry. As if without saying a word, Luffy had greatly offended her.

"You! Just what the hell have you been doing to get this messed up!? Don't you have any regard for your own safety or well being!?" She whisper-yelled, reaching out through the bars to give Luffy a gentle gonk on top of the head.

_Gosh, why weren't there someone watching over this kid!?_

"Well it's not my fault the pigeon-bastard is so strong..." Luffy argued back weakly. His energy was as good as non-existent at this point.

"Pigeon-?"

_From the sounds of it, the kid had taken on this "pigeon bastard." Did that mean he'd gotten this injured in a fight against a bird? _

"Please don't tell me that's exactly like how it sounds," she pleaded.

Luffy diverted his eyes from hers, unsure of exactly how and much less where to begin explaining _that_ one.

Well, it'd begun with a Buster Call obliterating his home of course…- in which he'd been slashed across the stomach. And then he'd proceed to beat his own hands numb while in captivity. Oh, and then there was that time he fell down a cliff. More than once, might he add. Plus he'd thrown up that one time and nearly done it again when he had finally eaten meat again. And all of that was without mentioning all the damage he'd suffered when he'd had his encounters with those jackasses trying _way_ too hard to restrain and capture him.

"Oi, catch the boy a break. We don't know his side of the story," the mayor suggested, placing a hand on the ill-tempered woman's shoulder before catching her gaze. There was that authoritarian glint in his eyes, telling her "no, enough is enough." Proof of why such a gentle soul could be the mayor of an entire village, however small it might be.

"...Fine, I'll let it slide for now." She reluctantly grumbled. "But my supplies are all back at the village…" Her fist tightened.

"Ah-" The teen suddenly uttered in realization.

_Hold on, if this lady was the doctor of that village he'd just been too..._

"Hey, your house blew up." He stoically blurted out, getting quite the stares from the pair.

"..."

"...What?"

"A bolt of lightning hit it and blew it up," Luffy elaborated.

"..."

"...Lighting? From the storm just now? How would you know that?" The doctor skeptically questioned, split between not believing the story and sounding scared it was true.

"Well, I was hiding right behind it when it happened. That stupid lightning came out of nowhere and blasted me right in the face!"

"..."

"Lightning?-"

"-Blasted you in the face?" The two agape and currently understandably leery villagers said, finishing each other's sentences unintentionally.

Luffy nodded a tad too seriously. That lightning… it'd totally wrecked that nice lady's house _and _given him away!

"But… the storm started approximately… 2 hours ago… 3 at most. How have you managed to sneak onboard a ship after getting stuck by freaking lightning and having no recovery time?" Doctor-san asked, really just starting to question the meaning of life and the works of human bodies.

"Hm? Well yeah, not like it hurt or anything," Luffy explained, as if that was normal.

But just the fact he was sitting here and talking to them right now should serve as living proof of that.

"..."

"..."

_Sigh._

_The doctor officially gave up. Whatever miracles had saved this boy up until this point she could only thank god-whoever for. But regardless of his luck in the past, his body was screaming for help now, and unless it would get _that_ and get it soon, she sincerely doubted his chances of continuing onward for much longer. _

"_So_, you are positive my house is gone? That a bolt of lightning _really_ hit my house and destroyed it?... And everything inside it?" The doctor asked with nearly pleading eyes.

"Yes, I already told you!" The teen repeated, slightly annoyed.

"..."

"Damn… what luck… then it's really pointless, even _if_ we could somehow get back..." She sarcastically moaned.

_Great. Well, the shack was small and easily rebuilt, but all that medicine she'd spent_ _her entire _life _gathering and brewing was an entirely different mess._ _And knowing her luck, and it wasn't hard to imagine all her notes and recipes were burnt to ashes as well so nothing beyond the recipes she remembered could be redone... _

"-But I have all your stuff!" Luffy suddenly excitedly exclaimed, interrupting the doctor's moment of depression.

_'What!?'_

"Look!"

Luffy twisted around and snatched his luggage, now bringing full attention to the bag that had been completely ignored earlier. The woman's eyes grew wide as she almost immediately recognized the dirty worn-out old thing.

_'That's!-'_

"My bag! But how!? Where'd you get this?" The overwhelmed homeless woman confusedly cried, nearly ripping the heavy thing from Luffy's fragile hands. Heartfelt relief seemed to warm up the woman's cheeks as the zipper was opened and she found loads of her cherished medicine _safe_ in the bag.

She pulled the priceless battered muddy decaying but irreplaceable messengerbag close to her chest, determined to never lose her valuables again. Flimsy as a wet stained poorly made bag filled with drugs of all things might seem, it was still hers, and as of now, everything she owned.

Luffy, however, suddenly broke away his glance, his dismal mood-change immediately apparent. The teen felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, especially sitting face-to-face with the (as it turned out) fairly friendly victim of his innocent "purchase."

"I'm sorry…" He bowed his head as low as his stomach-scar allowed. "I know it was mean of me to just take this while you guys weren't home…. I had some money to pay, but then those stupid jerks took it when I tried to leave it and a note behind…" He nervously sought her gaze once more.

No scolding followed, however. A single depressed sigh and head shake was the most extreme reaction to Luffy's confession.

"Don't want it.' I'm indebted to you, boy."

_Sure their entire village might be doomed, but the kid had yet to be spotted. If just his injuries didn't kill him, he could still slither away next time they arrived at an island. It was too dangerous and out of question for him to try and intervene with the poachers._

She for a second only glared fiercely into his deeply apologetic eyes, but suddenly flicked a finger at his forehead. It didn't hurt, but Luffy still flinched at the unexpected move.

"You know, there are a lot of doctors willing to help out a brat like you out there. In fact, if not for our little situation at hand, I promise I'd take my time and help you get back to full health before anything else."

She broke eye contact, focusing instead on scrambling through her medicine. It was impossibly stuffed and hurriedly packed. Finding anything would prove a challenge on all its own.

"No, I don't have time for that!"

_She stopped._

"Why would that be?" The mayor was the one to ask, voice calm but noticeably troubled anyway.

"I'm looking for someone! Portgas D. Ace, my older brother! I met this old man at a bar who told me if I went to some Fauna island, then I could meet a woman who knew something about the Whitebeard Pirates!" Luffy briskly summarised.

Eyes grew wide at that exclamation.

_For freak's sake, how many outlandish secrets did this one boy have to hide?_

"You mean to tell me your older brother is a pirate? And then even the infamous Portgas - 2nd division commander of Whitebeard, no less?" The mayor asked in raw awe.

"That's right! If I stop... for even a second, I might never get to see him again!"

"..."

The two went dead quiet. The doctor lady especially seemed to have abysmal thoughts crossing her mind. What about was impossible to tell. The mayor too, strangely, focused entirely on her reflective state. His expression was disheartening and unreadable as well.

"Boy."

The mayor took responsibility for talking.

"You're well aware that the island you've just abandoned _is_ Fauna as I brought up earlier, are you not?"

Now it was Luffy's turn to be flabbergasted. His eyes filled with desperation, heart starting to race a thousand miles as realization dawned on him.

_No. No, in fact, he'd managed to completely ignore the mention of the name when the mayor had introduced himself. _

"-Then!?"

"You're in luck. If it's a woman with some connection to Whitebeard you wanna find so badly you'll even put your body's basic needs aside, you've found her." The doctor interrupted, dead-faced.

"Really!? Do you know them!?"

"No, not personally. But my home is just a few hundred miles east of here, a tiny non-existent poor unmarked island the World Government couldn't care less about called Slumtasia. I moved away over 12 years ago to pursue my love for medicine, but since then, old man Whitebeard stopped by when some pirates attacked and claimed the place as his own. I owe him a great debt for saving my family and friends' asses, but let's just say… there's a very specific reason I probably won't ever go visit the place again…"

_Pirates will always be pirates._

A popular saying amongst the marines. Even if Whitebeard wasn't the back-stabbing kind of guy - proved by his _terrifying_ obsession with protecting his crew - he wasn't exactly innocent either. He'd killed. He'd plundered. Just because his protection was sincerely needed didn't mean she liked to accept it.

"I'm sure everybody there would be willing to help you out. It would be as easy as asking for a den-den mushi and then calling Whitebeard directly."

Usually, those were meant for emergencies only. In case a crew of psycho pirates one day _actually_ decided to ignore Whitebeard's mark and attack the island at their own demise. But surely, exceptions could be made.

" Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to help you with getting there…"

"Huh?"

Well, not like Luffy had expected that to begin with. He had (miraculously) been getting around on his own up until now. But since she was the one who brought that, up he couldn't help but be curious.

"You see, I _did_ have an eternal pose-"

"Eternal pose?" Luffy interrupted immediately.

"Yes? Instead of the usual needle that records the magnetic waves of an island before then moving on to the next, an eternal pose is eternally _locked_ on a single island no matter how long it spends away from it," she explained, slightly confused.

_If this kid (because no way had he traveled alone from one of the blues or worse, New World, here too) lived in the Grand Line, how come he didn't already know that?_

"..."

"...So it's a mystery pose then."

_Facepalm._

The doctor stared. The mayor broke into a burst of restrained bubbly laughter. God, wasn't _that_ cluelessness just precious in a shithole like this.

"Ahem!" She fake-coughed. "Case in point, an eternal pose gives you a direct pathway to any specific island. I had one for Slumtasia in case I ever felt like returning but…"

She averted her eyes, looking uncomfortable to continue.

"... It was stored… in my house which… you know…"

Luffy blinked, for a few seconds not understanding until:

"Oh."

_Right. That mystery pose was probably gone now too. And even if that wasn't the case, no way in hell could Luffy go back to Fauna. Not with _those_ guys probably tearing the forest apart looking for him if they didn't already know he was here. _

"What about Water 7?" The mayor all of a sudden cut in, stupefying Luffy's train of thought.

"Is it a possibility that an eternal pose could be found there? The poachers _did_ acknowledge they were visiting Pucci to form a contract with an anonymous buyer. Of course, all to move by sea train to Water 7 to avoiding docking such an illegal ship at a densely populated island mere hours away from Enies Lobby."

The doctor's head immediately flooded with possibilities at the mention of the famed city of water. A hand was thoughtfully placed over her mouth. Yes. Yes, that could might actually work.

"It's certainly possible… Slumtasia _is_ fair ways away, so many people would want an eternal pose thereto to stop by for supplies to stock up on while sailing…"

"What are you talking about?" Luffy broke in, not following along with their conversation.

_Water 7? Sea train? And that Enies Lobby place again that the pigeon-bastard had also mentioned? _

"It's nothing… nothing you have to worry about yet at least," the doctor said with a sigh, not about to waste away her night explaining.

_No, they'd wasted plenty of time already. She had an infected wound getting worse by the second to treat here - a screwed up pair of swollen fists, and an ass-ton of 2nd degree (at best) wounds to top everything off. _

Swiftly, before Luffy was allowed time for any objections, a tiny bottle of something was pulled out from her overflowing medicine mountain, skillfully injected into a syringe and next with the smallest prick, directly into Luffy's arm. She doubted, seeing all his existing injuries, a puny needle would scare him.

The effect was almost immediate. Clouds blurred the teen's mind and vision. If not for the fact he was already on his knees, he assuredly would have dropped to the ground considering how unhealthily weak his throbbing muscles rapidly turned. The fatigue was overwhelming.

"...What was that…?" He faintly groaned in a last-ditch effort to speak.

He desperately clung to the bars of the cage, consciousness starting to slip.

"Just a little something to make sure you're out while I treat you. You're gonna need stitches from the looks of it, and I'd rather as _hell_ ensure you won't be feeling that on top of everything you're already suffering from."

"My dear, you're doing it again-" the mayor's faint voice snapped, growing notably more annoyed by the second.

But Luffy heard none of that. His world had already turned black.

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

The imminent silence hung ponderously in the air. Between the uncountable and uncomforting numbers of jail cells hosting outlaws so detestable they were better off forgotten by society, you'd imagine nothing but utter chaos would come out of locking them all up in the same place.

Then again, silence - well, the eternal boredom the silence was presumed to bring - _was_ the punishment for the power-hungry fools of level 6. Garp knew better than to take the peace for granted, even if it made the atmosphere immensely unsettling.

It had been a mere few weeks since he'd arrived at the great prison. At least if Garp's loose counting and poor attempts at keeping track of time held up. With all light and access to the outside world cut off, time was impossible to know exactly.

Needless to say, his stay so far had been far from pleasant, even if his treatment had been nothing like the usual for Impel Down standards.

For one thing, he'd been allowed to keep his clothes and marine coat and medals. Although the generous intentions were kind of made pointless by the fact he couldn't change his clothes anyway.

Oh, and due to the little fact they were nothing but shiny accessories since his title had temporarily been revoked. He now held no more status or power than an old geezer with his fists. (Which, admittedly, still was a lot, but that was beside the point).

The use of chains restraining him was still excessive, though. As if restraining his hands with a set of cuffs and binding his feet to the wall (all with seastone of course) wasn't extravagant enough.

The man had been alarmingly quiet since the second he stepped foot in the prison. What was brewing in the man's thought was as good as anyone's guess. At times he looked on the verge of crying. And at others, like he sincerely wanted to murder someone.

The reactions of the prisoners as the glorious "Hero of the marines" had waltzed right in and, shockingly, went behind bars had certainly been something to behold. Heck, some of the prisoners would inevitably recognize Garp as the one responsible for bringing them in in the first place.

Not like it mattered if any of the prisoners saw him and began hypothesizing. The speculations of men locked up in a place where they'd never even see a slither of sunlight again wouldn't travel far.

And their opinions ultimately had little any impact on Garp.

But he at this point probably was looking like some madman who hadn't slept in days. Probably because he hadn't. Or at least that's what he told himself as to not let the time ticking by one excruciating silent second at a time drive him to insanity. Missing sleep and constantly being shredded in gloom didn't do wonders for appearing friendly either if the insecure stares of the guards discreetly delivering his food didn't prove that.

_Needless to say, things weren't optimal on his end._

The elder grumbled, visibly irked. He was uncomfortable. Legs and arms crossed. He'd lost count of for how many hours he'd sat like that. His legs were sleeping, so there was that. But he didn't really feel like shifting positions despite that. He tapped a finger impatiently against his bicep.

_Tap tap tap tap. Tap tap tap tap._ _A fast and impatient rhythm matching his bubbling frustration. _

He gritted his teeth, annoyance only spiking by the second.

_Those damned Gorosei. They'd really stepped across the line this time._

Of course his imprisonment had come as no surprise. The five elders were a bunch of smartasses leaving nothing to fate after all. The lack of torture or inhuman treatment proved this was simply a way to incapacitate Garp. And no better place than the impenetrable Impel Down, most enclosed place in the world.

With all his connections to his crew, the news, the Cipher Pohl's, rumors, the marines, his title, sunlight, moonlight, the ocean - even just a basic grasp of time effectively stripped, he was as good as useless. Knowledge was power in the big game after all, and as things stood, he knew… absolutely nothing.

_Luffy. _

The brat had pulled out one of his astounding miracles once again with this one. It was just like him to even in his condition find a single friend willing to risk their life to allow him to escape.

But where was he now? Was he eating enough with that stupid big appetite he had him to thank for? Was he injured? Hurting? Staying out of trouble? Laying low? (Who was he trying to fool here...) Crying? In absolute despair? Even still the same dorky helpless kid he used to visit? Had he found someone willing to protect him?... was he horribly lonely or even still…-

**_Alive?_**

He grumbled again, this time bitterly as a lump immediately blocked his throat.

All these unanswered questions were starting to drive him crazy. If it was the Gorosei's twisted way of torturing him, he wasn't ashamed to admit it was starting to take its effect.

More than ever he truly detested every single little corrupt aspect of the "justice" system he'd vowed to follow. But although he was already infamous for slithering around orders, he hadn't ever done a conscious effort to get in the higher-ups' way before. Not to this degree at least.

Garp was selfish - no point in trying to deny it. He'd idly stood by in the past. Mostly turned a blind eye to the tragedies he and the marines had assisted the World Government in causing.

Didn't mean he accepted it. Nor that he ever had.

But every side had its darkness, all humans their greed, and all organizations a need for a leader. Living under the fist of the World Government was sure as hell a lot better than just allowing pirates to cause anarchy. At least that's what Garp had always believed. Picking the greater of two evils.

But now... when he was the one put to the test and the ones threatened were people _he_ actually cared about, all his prior disgust at their actions turned to anger, to desperation, to regret, to feeling helpless and like he obviously should have done more to prevent this all in the first place. Selfish indeed.

This was different from anything Garp had ever agreed to be a part of before, though. This time, the government had its eyes set on a single little kid. _His_ kid. It would be one thing if he was a pirate, got brought in, and then sentenced to a public execution because of his dad. At that point, it'd be the punishment he as a pirate deserved. That was the way justice worked. The way punishing criminals was_ supposed_ to work. And Garp felt no compassion for criminals.

But the tiny little fact that kept Garp's rage burning to no end was exactly that. Luffy _was_ no criminal.

He was a 14-year old boy with a far too cheeky attitude and a dangerously big mouth. A boy cursed by the name of his father. The son of an outlaw - or even worse, a potential bargain chip in the eyes of the government.

But none of that was his fault now, was it? How anybody could so willingly neglect that fact and yet still claim they strived for justice was beyond him.

Meanwhile, something entirely different was slowly starting to sneak its way into his head along with the inextinguishable anger. Try as you might, but it was impossible to stay infuriated every second of every hour of every day.

Garp was convinced humans weren't meant to be as isolated for as long he'd already been. With nobody to talk to and distract him from it, far more disturbing thoughts than he'd usually ever allow himself to think of came crippling. And with all the empty time his brain was trying to fill in an attempt to keep him sane, it was starting to get beyond the point where Garp could just easily shove it aside any longer. Not like he usually would with something this major anyway.

He sighed.

_Dawn Island was really gone, wasn't it? _

The reality and weight of those words went beyond just getting enraged and desiring revenge upon whichever bastard was responsible (although _that _thought certainly never left Garp's mind. Indeed - how he had the sweetest dreams of about smashing the Gorosei's skulls in...)

It was just as if there was a certain point when, simply, in his head, it had _clicked_.

He'd never again get to stop by at Dadan's, get drunk, and then yell at them all night all for being shitty caretakers. Never again could he hurl around Luffy the forest with the excuse that it was "training" all whilst remembering the time Ace - and for a short time, even that strange Sabo kid - were victimized as well. Maybe he'd never even see his grandson again. Maybe all the innocents of the Goa kingdom and Foosha village died with a fiery resentment in their hearts, and nobody would ever be able to give them the justice they deserved.

Their deaths were permanent. They were _gone_. As in, gone _forever._

The thought made Garp want to obliterate something. He'd been so careless in preventing it. He felt like crying like a little child throwing a tantrum at how unfair the world worked as if he hadn't been exposed to it for years on end already.

And yet he said nothing. Unlike being stabbed or sliced or bruised or pummeled, this pain he found impossible to wrap his head around.

It was a mess. He was a mess. Truly, Garp had never been as conflicted about anything as he was right about now. He was probably sounding like some drunk man with his depressed rambling.

It was about in this unlikely time he'd found his thoughts arriving at his second home;

Really, there was no denying he belonged in the marines, was there? Where would he go if he wasn't with them? Navy HQ had been his home ever since he was just a fledgling recruit. His safe haven to return to when missions went terribly wrong and he could seek reassurance from the more experienced marines while he'd still been young and climbing his way through the ranks. Where he constantly met new recruits full of life and a burning passion to do all the good in the world. The place where _his _lifelong dream had finally come true.

How could he possibly betray such a place? Garp wasn't a traitor. At least he'd never intended to be - he just always did what he wanted to without caring about the consequences of his actions.

It felt as if there was an immutable voice in the back of his head tempting him and yelling "screw it all, beat up the bastards responsible for this!" fiercely clashing with his unyielding loyalty to the marines. It was a battle that seemed to only slowly conclude, and it was driving Garp insane.

In the end, he didn't know what to do.

Obviously, he wasn't gonna be let out of here before this entire thing reached some conclusion. He hated to the thought of leaving Luffy's safety in the hand of others, but truth was, he was overpowered and had already failed to protect him.

Heck, he wouldn't even be surprised if his grandson hated him and the marines after the crap they'd pulled this time, and would push away any help _he'd_ offer, even if he ever got the chance to talk to him again. The brat was dangerously resilient once he'd made up his mind about something after all.

All odds were stacked against him. He could fight it - fight the marines for real all just for a chance to save a single grandson. But the harsh truth was there simply were people just as powerful as him and better equipped for this.

_Red-hair_. Dragon. Maybe even throw that damn Newgate into the mix if it became _absolutel_y necessary. They'd all survived an encounter with him, so if anybody in the world stood a chance at helping the boy, it was them. But this was an unpredictable crazy race. No - a hunt. A hunt for Luffy. And it scared Garp that he couldn't tell who was winning.

Garp couldn't help but sigh. These thoughts were all too much.

Maybe it was about time he pulled back and retired. After all this mess was resolved of course - but Garp was starting to hit his limit for how much more of the World Government's crap he could take.

A sudden loud resounding sound interrupted the ex-vice-admiral's thoughts. Loud as ever, the prison's only elevator had arrived at level 6.

Garp paid it no worry. With his haki, he easily sensed four figures approaching long before their actual steps became apparent. Oddly enough though, it quickly became clear their steps were growing very loud very fast.

Somebody was coming. And since he had a difficult time imagining _anybody_ outside had a strong relationship with any of the other level 6 inmates and the connections to actually come _here_ just to visit, it was a safe bet to assume to see _him_.

He silently waited, mildly conflicted about what he should do. He hadn't spoken to anyone in days, which might have been for the best. No telling the swears and harsh protesting that poor bastard would have been put through.

Unsurprisingly, it didn't take long for Magellan's towering figure to appear outside his cell. He looked as stern and apathetic as ever and a few emotionless guards accompanied him, which at least explained the extra people he'd sensed earlier.

"Garp the fist. You have a visitor," The warden calmly and openly elucidated, not afraid to look Garp straight in the eyes despite his vehement glare.

The marine's brows twisted in confusion, having not expected that. A visitor under _these_ circumstances? There definitely weren't a lot of people who had the authority to make such a decision on their own.

Sengoku was the first possibility that came to mind. But why go through the trouble of coming all the way to the Calm Belt when he could just call? How would he even have found the spare time for a trip like this?

The man found himself quite pleasantly surprised when the guest revealed himself to be somebody entirely different. An old friend of his. Kuzan "Aokiji" - admiral of the marines.

"Yo," he cooly greeted, waving two fingers at the man he still owed a great debt. Quite the casual hello considering Garp's situation, but that _was_ Aokiji in a nutshell, wasn't it?

Garp didn't return the hello, leaving the group in a silence that very quickly would turn awkward unless somebody was quick to say something.

"Well... I suppose I'll leave to the two of you alone for some privacy, as I have other duties to tend to. _But,_ remember... we're watching," Magellan warned Aokiji as if he wasn't threatening one of the navy's most loyal members _and_ biggest monsters.

Of course, out of all the floors, level 6 was the one with the tightest security and littered with visual den-dens on every little corner. There wasn't a crack in the wall that couldn't be seen from the guard room, but unfortunately, the snails came with this tiny little inconvenience that sound didn't travel through and any... _unfitting_ conversations the prisoners might've been having went unheard.

Actually, now that Magellan pondered the thought, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

"Yes, yes, of course. Thanks for the trouble, I guess. I promise this won't take long, though," Aokiji said dismissively, plopping his hands back into his pockets.

The warden made no further comment, feeling no personal need to as an antisocial man spending 8 hours of his day alone in the bathroom. Which yes, was his own decision. Wordlessly he left the two alone, the other escorts following closely behind their commander.

Garp looked grimly at his colleague (the brat was as unreadable as ever), but waited until the prison staff's footsteps had vanished completely before speaking up:

"So… mind explaining what this little unexpected visit is all about, Kuzan?"

The ex-marine vice-admiral found himself surprised by how empty and defeated his voice sounded. Maybe being in a constant battle with his own head was more exhausting than he realized while he was just sitting alone.

"Hm? What, can't a man drop by to check up on his old friend without being accused now? Besides..." he lowered his voice just enough that Garp could still hear him. "Just between the two of us, Bogard also personally asked me I please visit to make sure you, you know, were still eating and taking care of yourself despite your… " he stopped momentarily, searching for a word that wouldn't make him sound like an insensitive jerk. "Losses..."

The carelessness in the follower of "Lazy justice's" voice was misleading, but anybody who'd known the guy for more than a day would know the concern was real and _was_ there behind that tired face of his. Hell, Garp wasn't even sure he'd gotten permission from Sengoku to actually_ be_ here in the first place, which meant it must have been a pain to orchestrate this little visit.

And Aokiji… Aokiji was not the kind of guy who'd deliberately put himself in some bothersome position.

"I have to admit, though, Garp… it feels kinda weird seeing you in this way."

That imprudent comment caused Garp to snort.

"There's nothing weird about a grandpa getting a hit in on the bastard responsible for his home getting obliterated by the very same organization that works as his second home, all for sake of getting to his grandson to imprison and _use_ him despite the fact he's never done a damn thing wrong, is there? Or would you beg to differ, admiral Aokiji?" Garp growled, shooting the man a glare as if daring him to as much as even try it.

Aokiji didn't mention another word about the matter thereafter. A few seconds of silence led to Garp sighing, realizing his anger didn't do him any favors.

"So, how is he?" he joylessly asked, not even needing to clarify.

"I'm afraid that's classified information," Aokiji coldly informed.

_Classified? Oh right, no title and all. _

"The hell it is! That's _my_ grandson they're hunting Kuzan! He's just some kid! He hasn't done anything to deserve any of this! You've seen it yourself, haven't you...?! How devastating one of those damn Buster Calls are? The government went _way_ too far this time and you know it!" Garp snapped remorselessly.

Of course it made sense the government kept him in the dark to spare him from the more grim details and avoid to invoke any more unnecessary reactions from his side. A simplified summary at the end of it all was smartest, that's what they thought, wasn't it?

Aokiji said nothing to Garp's outburst. Killing his own friend… watching the evacuation ship filled with civilians being blown to oblivion… even taking on the responsibility of watching over the only 8-year old survivor just to see if she would one day fit in somewhere so he wouldn't have to take her in. Of course he understood where the elder's frustration was coming from.

The admiral sighed. His heart was too damn big for his own good sometimes.

"Fauna," he uttered in defeat.

"At least from what the most recent report says, that's where he last was. Apparently, the group led by Rob-Lucci managed to catch up to him, but he gave them the slip by throwing himself into a river. They searched for a body, but none was found, so they suspect he's somehow made it off the island," he summarised.

The boy was either impossibly tenacious or had no significant regard for his life if he'd managed to outrun the government's top agents for this long, was what Kuzan personally had concluded from the intel.

Either way, it was worrying. Somebody who didn't care about getting hurt would drag themselves to their grave without others to look out for them. And hell if that boy was gonna be allowed a break to receive any substancial help.

Garp laughed dryly, sounding oddly relieved about the news, however.

_Thank heavens… so he was still alive then._

"Boy's a fighter, that's for sure," the elder said shortly, bringing about silence between the two.

As overjoyed and profoundly proud Luffy's evasiveness truly made him as his grandpa, he'd bet a week's worth of meals the government was starting to get sincerely annoyed and worried about how much longer this incessant goose-chase would last.

It wouldn't be long before there would be taken more drastic measures to ensure his capture, Garp was sure.

"..."

"Are you gonna go after him too?" Garp bluntly asked all of a sudden. He didn't at all sound like he'd blame his colleague if he would.

"No. Not unless I receive explicit orders to at least. Unlike that crazy Sakazuki, I'd rather not get involved any further in this mess…" Aokiji admitted resolutely.

Garp groaned at the mention of that fiendish admiral's name.

"I don't suppose he's been talking about anything other than wanting to blow a hole through my grandson's chest for these past days, or am I wrong?"

No answer was required for that obvious question.

"Well... I heard he had a run-in with Red-hair just a little while ago... apparently, he was forced to retreat due to a lack of manpower…. or so I heard…" Aokiji nonchalantly explained, scratching his curly black hair as it making at least a _bit_ of an attempt to remember some details. He certainly didn't appear worried about his colleague's defeat though.

Garp couldn't repress a sly smile from spreading across his wrinkled face.

_That could only mean Bogard must've actually listened to him and contacted that cheeky Red-haired brat. And all depending on how roughed-up he'd left the detestable admiral, maybe he was starting to kinda like the Yonko that had indefinitely stirred his grandson towards the path of piracy. _

...

_But just a little bit. _

Silence enwrapped the two again, quickly making it abundantly clear there was nothing more to be talked about. Perfect timing. Aokiji hadn't intended to stay any longer anyway.

Wordlessly, the admiral turned his back on the prison cell and began heading back for the elevator. He lazily lifted a hand as a last polite gesture of goodbye.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around again eventually Garp…"

Same as earlier, Garp didn't return the farewell. Simply staring as his colleague disappeared around the corner and out of sight, it immediately seemed to turn even quieter than it had before the admiral's visit.

* * *

**I've seen speculations regarding Garp pop up every so often in reviews, but here is a little update on his current situation! **

**...yeah, I'll admit this was the part that blocked me. I've discovered Garp is an impossibly difficult character to write, as I kept switching between making him depressed or furious and, as you can see, I decided on both in the end because I really just didn't know. So how was it? Totally unfitting? Honestly I don't know anymore :P I took inspiration from the time Ace was captured, but still kept in mind how different this entire mess is. As I wrote in the chapter, Garp doesn't consider Luffy to be a criminal and therefore (plus the fact Dawn Island is his home) doesn't at all think the Buster Call is justified at all. That's kinda is the major difference between Luffy and the deal with Ace**** (which, yes, I know, that's obvious) Garp just so "does no give a crap" that he even speaks out against the celestial dragons in the Canon, so how far would he be willing to go now? I DO have plans for his return eventually, but if any of you genious peeps have any brilliant ideas, feel free to share! :D**

**(ah. That felt surprisingly good to vent out of my system OwO)**

**So! Our boy is heading for Water 7 to aquire an eternal pose! Anybody worried? Because I am worried considering who lurks undercover! O-O **

**Also quick side note, the ingenious name of Slumtasia was a result of mine and my sister's best naming efforts colliding with inspiration from Canon islands. If anybody from the name alone can figure out what kind of place it is, you are a real MVP! XD **

**After all this time, here are your well deserved replies to your awesome reviews!**

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**Kiiro no Akuma: Ahahaha Luffy's always getting himself into trouble isn't he? Unfortunately, it's not getting better just yet... XD**

**AysaWolf: ;-; I thank you for your concern and sweet compliments, you are litterally an angel! It's been a nice sort of stress reliever to write on this thing, so I'm just so glad readers enjoy it as much as I do! Well, one quetion at least that was answered with this pretty calm chapter; yes Luffy finally gets some help and that's good! Also I hate being a tease, but there's this moment with Shank coming up that I'm sure I'll be yelled at for, but still I'm really really excited about it, so don't worry, all your quetions regarding him will be answered! XD **

**MelodiofHope: Thank you! Hang on and you shall see! UwU**

**Caraline Fisher: I'm sorry sweetheart, that just breaks my heart :( As a good friend of mine often says, life can be a b*tch sometimes, but I'm at least very very relieved to hear you can still find pleasure in reading stories like this! Awesome sweet peeps like you are always so motivating and I mean that! Yeah, my pain's been really fluctiating and I am currently restricted to a wheelchair and I can't lift anything heavier than a carton of milk DX! At least it helps that it's summer vacation I guess. I've been steadily improving though, so slowly it _is_ getting better! I'll pray things get better for you too dear, no suffering lasts forever! *Cookies to you and for great improvements~***

**KatilynUzumaki: Ahaha, so true, so true! XD But I agree, I need Ace to find out about this too soon damn it! And Luffy... I still hurt for poor Luffy, but this chapter wasn't mean to him at least!**

**Boss Moss: WHAAAAAAAAAA! LET ME HUG YOU CUZ' I'M CRYING RIGHT HERE ALONG WITH YOU! But wait, just wait, I know it hurts - it hurts me too - but things will be better eventually! DX**

**Aiso: O-O sorry for the delay once again~ (and honestly I agree, can't can't _wait_ either!) But thank you, I had fun imagining them ahaha. And you found an answer to your quetions - nope! First, a little stop at Pucci or more importantly - Water 7! :D**

**Sophia Mendes-Coruja: (It honestly feels weird writing that name and not just Sophia-chan now XD) And first *huggos returned tenfold to a beam of sunshine too pure for this world* Ahhaaaaaaa your compliments never fail to embarrass me Sophia! O-O I just have the time of my life writing action and angsty confrontations ****(as you know OwO) ****hahahaha - please, I'm not evil I swear- **

**Syiera Aquila1: I humbly thank you back for the kind words and well wishes! :D I'm glad you're enjoying this story, even if it's tough (I'm sorry~ a hug for you). I can tell you my plans for the story kind of get a little more blurry the longer ahead I think, but I do have _some_ ideas for the Straw hats if nothing! **

**SereneDragneel: Aw, you're doing great sweetie! And I thank you, no matter how many times people might tell me that they're excited for the future it'll never get old or be even the slightest less motivating! XD I also apologize ahaa, it won't usually take this long - especially since I now have more thorough plans for the next little while UwU**

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**I've noticed how I'm almost at 400 follows (which... how did that even happen? O-O) so I guess it's that boring/cringy to time to say thank you for that! UwU And a thank you to anybody who's still excited after this long break, I'll be looking forward to what you guys have to say after this ahaha TwT**

**To anybody who is on vacation, have to best of fun you can regardless of the current circumstances of your country - even if with the quarantine, it can feel annoying and unneseccary more than anything. **

**Also, because I originally intended for more to happen in this chapter, but I then realized it would be way too long if I included it, I already have a good chunk of the next one written, which is a first! OwO**

**Updates are still to be expected!**

_**-Cookie**_


	16. Close calls and problematic encounters

**Man... I'm strangely excited about this one XD**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Close calls and problematic encounters**

"Oi, it's already been what, a week since then, hasn't it?"

"Hm? Since what?"

The unmoved crook lazily sorted through his hand of playing cards, barely paying his buddy any attention. The task of standing guard was a chore. Certainly the worst factor about staying under the radar. Even grown men like them could turn into impatient children if their patience was just pushed far enough.

"Geez, stop being such a lazy-ass for a sec, would you? Since our last pick-up, dimwit."

"Yeah, so?" The sleepiest of the two commented.

The other man silently kicked his absentminded partner across the shin under the table, his negligent attitude not sitting well with him.

"_So_, we've been carrying _those_ guys for the past 7 days at this point! They've been abysmally talkative and loud y'know! That's why humans are always such a pain. But _now_ listen;" he paused for a moment to allow the unnatural silence to really stick out. "Now that we've finally landed at land where their big mouths could mean trouble in case a passerby hears, there's nothing."

Poacher 2# finally peering over his hand of cards, narrowing his eyes. He looked like he was about to slap his own forehead.

"C'mon man. You're just paranoid considering how obsessed the marines have been with catching us this past week. We might have had many close encounters out at sea where there was nowhere to hide, but nobody's gonna find us all the way out here," he assured scoffing in bemusement at the thought.

Pucci was home island to the slightly famed "Gourmet City." It might have gotten wealth and prestige after linking up with Water 7 10-plus-something years ago, but matters still remained that it once _was _home to bandits and criminals. With all the lacking resources, citizens resorted to theft, just to get by another day. Illegal trading was not uncommon back then either, and the cliffs and many small bays around Pucci's coast where the exchanging had happened were perfect for hiding a ship.

"I-I guess you're right… it's just strange is all."

"Well my guess' maybe those stubborn boneheads finally realized how pointless their lives and struggling is. Or it could be the hunger finally getting to them. We've been careful to barely feed them after all, which at least always works pretty well on the smallest brats."

Food, water, light - the prisoners could complain about the discomfort of sitting in a cage and getting cuffed all they wanted, but their bodies would do all the tiring and torturing on their own if they just played their part right.

The poacher, however, cussed at the mention of food.

"I swear, did we not pack the usual supplies when we last set off or what? Food's been so scarce these past days it's like someone's been stealing from us…"

And it was at this point a certain shifty little rat regarded it boring to just listen and instead carefully pried open the hatch leading under deck to poke out the slightest bit of his head. Dark orbs observed the two bickering men. Their conversation had reverted to a swearing contest of who'd been the most hungry and in pain for the past days. Both of them were oblivious to the fact they were being spied on.

Luffy dismissed their quarrel in favor of looking around for a way to escape. The deck was dirty, and barrels and ropes alongside other piles of junk were lazily pushed against the railing of the ship, like whoever had cleaned up didn't even care enough to put everything back where it belonged.

Unfortunately for Luffy, that meant the deck was completely exposed and he was left without anywhere to hide. Those two guys were gonna be a problem if he was gonna get help for the villagers.

Of course it was impossible Luffy wasn't gonna help them. For one thing, the doctor lady helped him with his injuries - and even if she warned Luffy he was still in the danger zone if he couldn't get more treatment soon, she had basically saved his life.

It was slow, but his energy _was_ returning, day for day now Luffy's wasn't in life-threatening scuffles constantly.

Fresh bandages covered his torso completely…. the doctor had denied him to wear his vest, disgusting as it was, and told him to just throw it into the ocean, which Luffy _had_ done because it didn't matter to him if he was shirtless or not. Although his shorts were tattered, bloody, and ripped beyond recognition, there weren't really anything to do with them. It still beat running around without pants apparently.

"_It's unfortunate there's no one around your age in our village… I doubt any of our clothes would fit you." A worried woman had pointed out._

"_But you look totally cool! Like a real life mummy - like the ones from your stories, right daddy!?" a young boy around 6 asked with sparkles in his eyes. _

"_Oi, Milo, that's inappropriate. Don't say inconsiderate things like that, ok?" his dad scolded. _

It hadn't taken long for the teen to decide he liked the villagers. Despite their abnormal obsession with knowing everything about him and constantly asking him questions.

"_That's one big scar you've got… couldn't have just been an accident, right?"_

"_Is your home far from here? I mean - with the Grand Line being such a dangerous sea to traverse and all…"_

"_You have those handcuffs… does that mean... you're like us...?- Oh! Or are you some kind of criminal who's totally cool and broke them on your own to escape?! That'd be so so awesome!"_

It took the mayor butting in before they finally gave Luffy some breathing space. Their inquisitiveness did get old pretty quickly, annoying the boy more than anything. And he at this point was just tired of repeatedly telling the same stories which, in the first place, he felt uncomfortable talking about. He'd never even enjoyed talking about himself. Now more than ever he'd rather avoid thinking too much about what he'd been through.

That aside, Luffy really had done his best to repay their kindness. Stealing food - despite being warned and afterward scolded for endangering himself like that. He even tried getting the keys for the villager's cage so they could escape together, but found the ship of the poachers overflowing with garbage to an extent where even just that proved impossible. Unfortunately none of the poachers bothered carrying them around, which would have made Luffy's goal a lot easier.

_Oh well._

_Making sure everyone escaped was too important that Luffy would give up that easily. No way was another village perishing on his watch._

The frozen teen swallowed thickly, feeling the usual stab of homesickness that had recently been plaguing him.

Fun as it really had been to finally have somebody to talk to again, Luffy had never had felt so out of place when just… talking to someone before. It wasn't like him. It was wrong. All he could think about as he watched the villagers interact was how he _was_ a stranger who no longer had what they did.

A home to return to once their little situation was resolved.

Fellow villagers who stuck together and knew each other like family.

...

_He really missed Makino and everyone else. _

Of course he'd always known there would come a day when he couldn't just visit them whenever he wanted. But that was supposed to be because he instead was having the most awesomest adventures of his life!

It wasn't ever supposed to be final.

He'd never prepared to say goodbye for real to anybody.

Luffy had always imagined backtracking and visiting Dadan and everyone else once he'd become pirate king - introducing them to his amazing crew and finally repay his tab at Makino's bar.

It wasn't supposed to hurt to think back on how much he'd enjoyed everyone's company back when he still had the chance.

Luffy felt guilty for wanting to forget everything that had happened, but truth was the memories were too painful. Appalling as everything was, and as thoroughly sick to the bone it made him feel, he wasn't gonna deny what had gone down. He just… really didn't want to have to think or talk about any of it right now.

The teen viciously shook his head until he was dizzy and his mind cleared.

_Now really wasn't the time for this. _

Shifting his focus back on the two clueless watch-dogs, Luffy easily assembled a plan. The doctor-lady had forbidden him from doing anything straining, which, unfortunately, ruled out fighting them as an option. He still owed her for nursing his wounds, so he'd listen to what she told him for now. But, unfortunately, he couldn't promise her he wouldn't wound up in some crisis where it couldn't be avoided.

Luffy couldn't resist a cheeky smirk - one that'd been absent from his face a few days too long.

_He'd spent too much time sitting around._

Suddenly, the hiding boy boldly leapt straight up the trap door concealing him, storming off with a literal mysterious dustcloud that appeared out of nowhere behind him - past the startled guards who flipped over on their chairs in shock with a surprised cry.

Luffy charged onward with a mighty roar as, before any of the two terrified grunts laying stupefied on the floor could follow, the stupidly nimble 14-year old skipped right over their ships' railing, right in front of their faces. He barely even stumbled as he landed clumsily in the water that just barely reached past his ankles.

'_Alright!'_

Luffy didn't dare look back as he pressed forward, reaching the sandy coast in seconds and, as fast as his recovered legs finally allowed him to run again, disappeared past the chunky trees concealing the bay, out of the poachers' immediate reach.

"..."

"..."

Dread ever so slowly found its way into the boggled men, as the seconds ticked by and their brains picked up on what had just happened. Blankly… wordlessly they found each other's horrified eyes from their positions on the floor.

"What just-?"

"Did someone just-?"

"..."

"..."

A second passed, and both fools jerked to their feet in a panic.

"Dammit! Was that one of the villagers!? How'd he get out!?"

"Shut it! If we let him get away it'll be the end of us! C'mon!"

* * *

**O-o-O-o-O**

* * *

Escaping was, to say it politely, an absolute joke. Maybe Luffy was just getting better at it…. that would certainly be helpful was it the case!

The island - Pucci, Luffy reminded himself after practicing the name for the bulk of the last week - had a fairly flat landscape with just a single city stretching almost all the way to the seashore of the island if trees didn't stand in the way of the buildings

The architecture wasn't outstanding - just maybe on the elegant side - although the buildings were definitely larger in scale, and a substantial lot of them were made of solid brick. It was a neat place. Fancy in the same way High town back at Dawn would be in comparison to Foosha.

The city on its own wasn't anything extravagant. But while appearance wise, Pucci wasn't anything impressive, it'd be almost insulting to claim the small island had nothing of its own to offer...

Luffy's sense of smell was exploding from all the aromas seeping out the luxurious-looking restaurants that appeared everywhere you turned your glance. The scent resembled that of the most scrumptious and expensive meals that were served on Dawn Island - the kind only Sabo could grant them access to with his special watch-thing, and Luffy hadn't had in years. But maybe that was just the starvation speaking.

_*GRROOWWL*_

Luffy clutched his empty stomach. Sometimes, it could feel like there was a monster living inside of there, wanting to rip its way through his tummy flesh to get to eat the food he consumed with its own mouth when he got hungry enough and still couldn't satisfy it. Considering the amount of time spent since he'd last eaten a decent fulfilling meal, tummy-monster was definitely growing impatient at all these divine fragrances right about now.

Not just being able to just dig in was torture. But lunatic as even just the concept itself might sound, finding something to eat actually wasn't Luffy's initial concern.

_*GROOWWWWL*_

The teen swallowed nervously. He was resting against the wall of an alley hidden from the streets that he'd retreated to for now. For maybe the first time in his life, he had stopped to think about what he was actually about to do. It really wouldn't suffice just to push forward without any real concrete plan any longer.

"Those government jerks…. they always end up finding me…" Luffy muttered quietly, as if the fact only now was sinking in as deeply as it should.

He was really tired of constantly exposing himself to those guys.

Ace and Sabo had always scolded him for being too trusting of people in the past. But back then, he hadn't cared about that, because he knew he always had two awesome amazingly strong big brothers to bail him out of any trouble he got himself into. He'd never felt unsafe with them watching his back.

As he'd grown older, the dangers Dawn Island posed became lesser, but only out of proxy of his strength increasing. He needed other people for situations like this. Luffy wasn't good at deception or even just evaluating when a situation was safe or not. He hadn't ever cared about that stuff before.

He'd definitely get somebody who excelled at stealth-related work to join his crew, that was at least one positive realizastion he'd come to terms with.

But that, unfortunately, would have to wait for the future, and future plans did little to help Luffy right now.

_He needed to find someone who could help the villagers…_

Who should he trust? The villagers needed a ride back home - plus a ship big enough to carry all the animals. Who did you seek out for those sort of specific requirements anyway? A sailor? Another merchant? But what did those look like? Did he just walk up to a random civilian and ask for directions?

"..."

_But what if _they _were there too? What if they saw him - or worse even - what if they hurt whoever was willing to help him? They wouldn't care that the villagers wouldn't be rescued. They wouldn't care that another unjust death got burned into his consciousness. _

Luffy didn't fear much... but being weak was one of them. Those government bastards… they evoked a feeling of unyielding hysteria inside him like nothing or no one else really came close to. Triggering all the memories he so desperately wanted to get over with their mere presence in mind. There was no time he felt as helpless and inferior as when his current strength proved too lacking to even defend himself. He wasn't scared of the asshole that that pigeon-bastad was… just of how increasingly pathetic he made him feel with every encounter they had.

_He really was desperate to avoid them. But nothing about the kind villagers' crisis would change if he didn't gather the courage to go out there and find help. _

_*GGRRRROOOOWWWLLLLLL*_

Luffy patted his stomach again. His increasing hunger wasn't getting any better either… But there wasn't any place to hunt on this little industrialised island… and with all his bandages wide on display, it would probably arouse too much attention if he went to dine n' dash...

Suddenly, however, to Luffy's horror, his ears failed to pick up on the sound of someone big and tough running up behind him before it was already far too late, and a stranger with bulky hairy arms wrapped Luffy in a tight grip, lifting him off the ground.

"Got you now…! *huff* Don't you dare think you could run away from us you little brat!"

Luffy instantly recognized the voice as one of the poacher's he'd been coerced to listen to through the damaged woodwork of their ship. Not that it allayed anything right now.

"Let go of me!" Luffy demanded, fiercely wiggling around, albeit awkwardly since his feet were off the ground.

"Oh no you don't!"

Almost instantaneously to Luffy's wrestling, another poacher arrived at the scene, rope in hand as he hurriedly ran up front the struggling child, frantically trying to force his legs together.

_NO!_

Luffy continued to squirm brutally, kicking the bastard foolish enough to try and tie his legs together right across the nose.

"_RAUGH!_\- Son of a-! "

The man staggered back with a cry, tilting his head and slapping a hand over his throbbing injury. Unfortunately, Luffy's hope for an opening to flee dwindled quickly, as his resistance proved futile, and the other poacher recomposed himself way too quickly, completely ignoring the fact blood was dripping from his nostrils.

"You little rascal! You'll seriously pay for that once we get back to the ship!" The criminal spat, stomping wrathfully towards the teen for attempt 2.

_Crap! These guys were a lot tougher than they looked!_

"No! Stay away you jerk!"

Luffy kicked uncontrollably to try and land a second hit, but his assailant wasn't gonna allow it to be that easy for the desperate teen, instead approaching this time from a different angle - going in from the side where Luffy couldn't reach without stretching, effortlessly restraining one leg and struggling very little to keep it still.

_NO! No no no no no no no no no no! NO! Not like this! No way after he'd had all _week _to regain his strength he still couldn't escape from two stupid poachers! It wasn't fair…! Was he really this outclassed in the Grand Line?! _

_All he meant to do was help the people who saved his life so he could get going already…!_

_He finally had some way of getting to Ace._

_Ace._

_Ace._

_**Ace**__._

_Why couldn't just crying his name be enough to have his big brother come storming to his rescue like in the old days? He'd let himself be beat up a thousand times over by his grandpa's fist of love if it meant he could have him come save him right now. _

"NO! _Don't you dare_! STAY AWAY!"

Luffy suppressed a few stinging tears as his fruitless fighting at last came to a close, his legs restrained as he could do nothing but watch on helplessly as the rope was wrapped around his ankles and nearly cut off the blood circulation to his feet.

Luffy immediately tried breaking his bonds, which he was supposed to do effortlessly, but his depleted energy plus the seastone cut his attempt very short. The teen gritted his teeth in defeat.

Both poachers seemed to let out a breath of satisfaction at their tiresome victory, as Luffy was lowered back to the ground, a firm hold still around his scrawny arms preventing him from tipping over and pretty much moving at all concurrently. The guy who'd been lifting him all this time was out of breath, but that was the extent of the damage Luffy had managed to inflict on him.

"Damn it… for his age and looks, he's deceivingly strong," Luffy's detainer grumbled. The tight lock he kept Luffy's arms in proved he wasn't taking any chances with underestimating him either. "Look, he's even broken his handcuffs."

"The hell'd that happen?" The question was directed straight at Luffy, whom apparently the poacher expected to give an answer. The teen only glared daggers in response.

"Huh!? What's that look for!? You little punk! You wanna get punched!?" He warned, already raising his fist threateningly at the unflinching teen.

"_-Oi!"_

All the three heads instantly turned in the direction of the unannounced trespasser, muffled curses escaping the poachers' mouths.

Luffy's heart began racing in his chest, and although the only sound he could muster was a tiny wordless cry, Luffy's captor wasted no time silencing the child with his giant hand. If Luffy's head wasn't currently spinning with panic, this would have annoyed him to no end.

_Th-this was… either good, or very very very very _very _bad for him!_

"Excuse us. I'm gonna have to ask you just what you think you're doing, good sirs."

The speaker of the group of 3 wavered not. All of the young marine soldiers pointed their guns at the poachers, fingers ready to trigger at the slightest wrong movement from the antagonistic men, who both remained alarmingly calm.

The poacher not occupied with holding Luffy down smoothly raised his hands in surrender, eyes not averting from the officer's.

"Ok dear gentlemen. Let's not do anything brash here…"

Luffy's eyes frantically darted from one marine to the next. The marines was an organisation working directly for the government. That much he understood. They'd done the dirty work of eradicating Dawn Island and led the Buster Call. Everywhere he went, everyone seemed to know him... those guys could be intending to rescue him for the sole reason of capturing him too!

"You know how it is, don't you? Don't worry, we're no snitches - we know you marines aren't the proud soldiers of justice you claim all the way through... you turn your heads away even just at the mention slavery because those Tenryuubito of yours deem it legal, isn't that right?" he calmly reasoned.

_That word didn't bypass Luffy's ears. He stiffened in his captor's arms, eyes filling with confusion._

Hold - Tenryuubito!? Wasn't that the name of the guy who killed Sabo when he'd been sailing out to sea!? What did they have to do with this? And what was this about slavery all of a sudden? The poachers intended to sell the villagers as slaves - that he'd had explained plenty…

But did the marines turn a blind eye to that stuff too, like they did destroying islands?

Luffy studied the group for a reaction, oddly noticing how all three of them had similar glints of disgust and shock shimmering in their eyes, despite not denying any of the jackass-poacher's claims.

_What… but-_

"Wrong answer," the stern marine growled heatedly.

All of a sudden, a gun went off behind the poachers and a terrified Luffy who hadn't had the smallest chance to prepare. Before the child could react, however, his captor was shrieking a shrill earsplitting cry of anguish, unexpectedly staggering away from Luffy who immediately lost his balance and tumbled to the floor, head overflowing with confused thoughts. As he instantly shot the poacher a glance, he saw blood flowing from a wound in his shoulder the man clutched desperately, his twisted facial expression suggesting he could let out another equally gut-wrenching scream any second.

_Luffy froze, breath stopping completely as his vision warped and sounds of fighting, fire, yelling, swearing, crying, - everything of it too real, rang in his ears. _

_Before him stood not some bastard who'd seconds ago restrained him against his will, intending to sell him off to a life of slavery - but a green-haired gentle warm soul whom he'd loved more than he'd ever had the oppertunity to realize. _

_Like always, she was falling... falling before his own eyes stinging with tears to the ground as he was helpless to even catch her corpse. It still glared at him with those confused, pleading, glassy eyes of hers. T-those terrified soulless eyes begging for answers…. _

_Why she had to die like that._

The teen sat paralyzed.

_The feel of others' blood on your hands was unforgettable. Like the scars formed by the wounds of your past mistakes - etched into your mind and impossible to erase, all the same. _

_Breathe._

_Breathe._

_All the images flashing past Luffy's eyes were quickly starting to blur as the dizziness from his rapid breathing became too much._

_**No… not again...**_

'_Go away….' _

_Luffy still remembered the raw wrath in Dadan's eyes as she'd hopelessly thrown herself at Lucci, rage consuming her in that pivotal moment where Luffy was too crippled by everything to even go mad. _

'_Go away!'_

_She'd been shot too - the best to hope for her was she'd bled to death before the fire could reach her. _

'_GO AWAY!'_

_Foosha was the same nightmare relived. Infernal flames swallowing everything, terrorizing shrieks of despair from the limping survivors of the massacre - blood boiling in the corpses of the village inhabitants at their contemptible injustice as they were blasted to ashes. _

'_Go away, go away, go away, GO AWAY, GO AWAY-'_

"_**GO AWAY!" **_Luffy screamed, screamed to his blaring, piercing, persistent memories, desperately launching his head against the rough familiar hard cobblestone ground, arms fearfully covering his head to protect himself from all those thoughts that made him want to go rip himself apart.

"... Go away…" he whimpered helplessly.

Taking in breaths so deep they felt like they cut his lungs, Luffy's vision and senses slowly drifted back to him, be it temporarily maybe, to finally allow him to fathom anything happening around him.

Contrary to the raging sounds of nightmare-fuel in his head, everything around him was as ominously silent as a graveyard. His forehead was pressed against the cool surface of the ground, but he couldn't be bothered raising it. Subconsciously he'd curled himself up to be as tiny as possible.

Luffy gritted his teeth, suddenly swarmed by an overwhelming tiredness of defeat.

"Damn it…" Luffy whispered, raspy voice almost gone.

_Not again... he couldn't do anything if he kept breaking down like this as soon as someone was shot just like…-_

_... _

_..._

_But it was just too much… all of it was just too much._

"_..."_

"H-hey…?-"

As uncomfortable as the soft-spoken voice was, Luffy still bounced in surprise, immediately firing the spokesperson standing behind him a frightened glance.

A single marine with a concerned expression straining his face was all that remained of the preceding horde. The alley was now just as desolate as when Luffy'd first arrived here on his own, with the exception of a few blood splatters staining the ground from the fight.

Luffy's confused eyes met the adults', who immediately flared up in surprise, probably not expecting a response from Luffy after everything. The child stared blankly into his eyes, quickly forcing the marine to realize he was waiting for him to explain himself. Visibly awkward, the young adult fake-coughed.

"So, uh… are you... are you good boy? We tried getting through to you for the past while, but you've been completely gone," the man summarised, seemingly relaxing and putting back on his professional front.

"What happened? Where are the jerkasses?" Luffy immediately blurted out, easily dismissing his panic attack. Much to the stupefaction and perplexment of the marine.

"...Jerkasses? Are you talking about the criminals we apprehended? Don't worry, they've been taken away and will be dealt with. I'm sure they'll face appropriate punishment for everything they've done," he assured. The look on the marines face, however, quickly changed. His expression stiffened, eyes growing dark. That was never a good sign.

"Look kid, I'm gonna need just a bit of an explanation here, and if this thing is what I suspect, you're not gonna like it."

The officer sighed, scratching his neck in discontent. Luffy remained blank-faced. Having already experienced many things he didn't like, it was quite strange to suddenly be warned of it.

"...What's your connection to the two men we've just arrested? Is there a reason they were trying to abduct you?" he asked, disturbingly uptight. As if he was ready to jump Luffy if what he had to say didn't pass over with the government official.

"Hm? Yeah, of course….! Those guys are total assholes!" Luffy immediately blurted out, frowning. Hopefully the marine didn't need him to know that though?

"No- I mean- beyond that obvious fact." The officer paused, taking a moment just to just stare surprised at the kid.

Wait- was he up to something here? How old did you have to be to justifiably give such an answer anyway? Did the boy just look old for his age or was he just the one bad at talking to children?

...

...Although the genuinely puzzled dark orbs looking him right in the eyes were fascinating and worrying all the same. He got the feeling it wasn't safe to leave this brutally simple boy on his own regardless of what might have happened to him in the past.

Coughing dryly, the marine recollected himself. This _was_ actually no joking matter.

"Boy, Imma' be straight here. You... aren't an escaped slave, are you?"

"What?"

That absurd question had come out of absolutely nowhere. And why would it even matter if he was in the first place?

"I'm sorry to say my colleagues and I strongly suspect it from your behavior and injuries. Unfortunately, once a slave has been sold off, law dictates they serve them until their buyer releases them or they succumb in one way or another. I'm not any less fond of it than you little guy, but it's just the way the world works unfortunately, and I have no power to change that."

Luffy stared blankly, getting uncomfortable twisting in his stomach. He got a feeling there was an "and" coming up only going to make the marine in front of him far less likable.

"...We all try to ignore the whole deal the best we can, but unfortunately, we're also under obligation to bring back any escaped slave we stumble upon. By request from their… masters who pay a lot of money the government needs, so it's not like we can just ignore them. There's no way this won't be reported to HQ, so it's best if you just admit the truth now, or you'll be chased down since we know your face."

Dread stabbed the teenager in the stomach.

_What!? NO! He hadn't heard anything from the government or navy since his escape from the pigeon-bastard! If the marines reported he was here - now that he was really really close to that Enies-Lobby place even the villagers had warned him of when he'd asked them - then who knew what was gonna happen to him! _

'_This is not good! This is not good!'_

Panicking, Luffy bounced up from the floor, only to immediately fall flat on his nose as his bonds made him face-plant. Ignoring his painless tumble, Luffy immediately spun around, shedding the dumb rope a frustrated stare before immediately regaining his sitting position and starting the excruciating fiddly procces of getting it off.

The marine at first silently observed the straw-hatted boy struggle, feeling a stab of pity as Luffy accidentally tightened his knot. Panic spread across the child's face as he realized his horrible mistake.

"...Here, I'll do it," he sighed.

Not able to stomach another second of the depressing fidgeting, the marine unsheathed his sword, swiftly and skillfully cutting the teenager's bindings, to the absolute befuddlement of the younger boy.

_What? After everything horrible he'd admitted, like putting up with slavery and accepting the same bastards heartless enough to kill Sabo, he was still helping him?_

He stared at the marine with big confused eyes, even getting the soldier to blush a little and turn away in embarrassment.

"You should probably get going boy. If you wanna run away, then I'm not gonna stop you… now's your chance..." the stoic soldier claimed, silently tucking his blade back into his belt. He cast the dazed boy a final sly look of sympathy before slowly starting to walk away.

Struck by a sudden bolt of realizastion, however, Luffy wasn't gonna let the man abandon him that easily. Suddenly taking a big leap from the ground, he grabbed the back of the shirt of the extremely startled marine, stopping him.

"Wait, please! I need your help!" He cried, much to the shock of the speechless officer. He gritted his teeth, growing evidently impatient with the child, immediately turning around to shout in his face.

"Didn't you hear me!? You've just basically just admitted everything I suspect is true, right!? I'm willing to let you go now because taking in an injured kid would never leave my consciousness, but that's the end of what I can do for you-"

"No, I'm not talking about me! You've got to help everybody else! They're still on the ship and about to be sold off, and the captain could come back and take them away any time now if we don't hurry!" Luffy shouted, grabbing the shirt of the grown-up again to shake him frantically.

He'd really rather not resort to getting the marines' help, much less have to beg for it. But all things considered, who else had the necessary supplies and the power to protect themselves like they did?

"Hey hey, slow down a second kid, what are you even saying? Who needs help?" the marine asked. He'd caught the words, "ship" "sold" "captain return" and "help," which didn't really explain a whole lot.

"The villagers! They helped me and I need to help them too! All of them were taken when they tried protecting these awesome animals from their island, and we've been sailing for the past week! They're still on the poachers' ship!" the straw-hatted boy continued.

"..."

The marine kept a straight face, taking a moment of silence to piece together the child's confusing frenzied rambling in his head.

"Ok… so, you're claiming while you were being kept on the ship, a stop was made to an inhabited island with animals… and then the poachers took the villagers prisoners when they were defending the creatures?" he guessed.

"No, the other way around. Everybody else was already there on the ship along with the animals when I snuck aboard," Luffy corrected.

The marine's brows furrowed, head starting to hurt a little from this brain-workout.

_What...- but…. if he was really a slave on the run, why in the world sneak aboard the ship of someone who would just sell you back if they discovered you? Why the risk?_ _Was he that desperate to get somewhere? Why the hurry?_

"We're gonna have to discuss the details of that a little later…. for now at least, can you show me where the ship is docked?" The marine asked Luffy.

"Uhn!" The teen agreed, spinning around and swiftly taking off in a hurried sprint. He wasn't exactly sure how to get out of the back alleys, but he'd just been running straight for the most part… he was sure.

'_Alright everyone, just hold on a little longer!'_

The marine stumbled a little as he scurried after the kid, significantly impressed he could still run as fast despite looking like a walking corpse. Ignoring the fact he was barely keeping pace with a child, he promptly pulled out a tiny palm-sized den-den mushi from his pocket.

"_Hello?"_

"This is soldier #097182 reporting in. I've got an escapee from the ship of the poachers we've just arrested. Turns out our suspicions they arrived on a boat loaded with cargo was right! He claims there are innocent villagers and smuggled animals trapped still. I'm gonna need some backup."

* * *

"Unit 1, move on in! Be prepared, we don't know how many poachers were left to guard the ship!"

"YESSIR!"

Footsteps thundered as the assembly of marines stormed into the illegal ship. No time was wasted before doors were being kicked in and everybody started yelling to each other. Though certainly chaotic, it was an impressive display of team work considering the assembled group of marines had been notified and mobilized on a whim if nothing.

Luffy was probably lucky Pucci was as small as it was. His sense of direction was atrocious - that was a given - but not to the point where, when he noticed something familiar, he wouldn't know to run towards it. The trees concealing the small sandy bay's of the industrialized island served as a good landmark. And from there, even Luffy had managed to lead the entire squad of marines that had ended up charging behind him to the ship. Probably (hopefully) the only time that was ever gonna happen. But now he just wanted to get away from there since he knew the villagers and animals would be ok.

"Wait, hold on just a minute here... so, you're telling me all those injuries, the handcuffs, _and_ the old old torn clothes all _isn't_ a result of slavery? You're no slave on the run?"

The marine interrogating Luffy was the same as before. His expression was strained into a mix of befuddlement and skepticism at the 14-year old's messy story, which only got more interesting the more details the marine managed to make sense of. This kid strangely poked at his curiosity the longer they chatted, and it was starting to really bother the adult. He really wanted to know more about where this boy came from.

"No, I'm not! I've really just gotta get going!" Luffy argued annoyed. He'd been practically bouncing in place for the past minute. He couldn't take this standing around and explaining himself any longer.

Turning his back on his interrogator unannounced, Luffy was planning on scramming right then and there, if not for the hand that suddenly grabbed his wrist tight, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"Hold it boy, if you're really innocent as you claim, then surely you wouldn't mind coming with me for a quick little background check, no? Don't worry, nobody's gonna hurt you. We'll even give you someplace to sleep."

The marine had a really disturbing expression on his face. The kind of look of intrigue, Luffy could remember only seeing very rarely in his life. Like that one time he, Ace, and Sabo had come across another group of kids playing with a dead bird. They'd completely disregarded how sad it was the small helpless creature was dead in favor of examining it. Luffy didn't like how captivated the marine suddenly was with his life. And now he was trying to drag him along.

"No! Stop!"

"_-Oi!" _

Luffy didn't even get to struggle before the yelling voice intercepted. Both turning their heads in bafflement, a strange man appeared to be running towards the pair specifically. The marine batted him a sceptic look, immediately strengthening his grip on the 14-year old as the stranger stopped, barely exhausted, and tentatively neared them.

"Sir, I'm sorry to inform you this is no place for a civilian to be. As you very evidently should be able to see and hear, we're dealing with confidential matters right now." The irritated marine warned.

"Ah, s-sorry I swear, not here to disturb you marines with your business," the man politely affirmed, even raising his arms to show he meant no harm. "It's just, I saw you two running through town earlier, and I couldn't help but recognize that boy you're currently trying to take away."

_What?- _

_What!?_

Speechless, the marine and Luffy alike stared agape.

The man's hair was short, curly, brown. No hat or outstanding accessory or scar to identify him. But he did have a slightly fancy brown coat and leather gloves. Still he was really just the sort of guy you'd pass by without a second thought on the streets.

Luffy knew one thing for sure though. He hadn't ever met this man in his life. Or if he had, their encounter hadn't been significant enough that he remembered or trusted him even the slightest right now.

"Who are you!? I don't know you!" Luffy blurted out.

_Not good - NOT GOOD! Luffy only knew one group of people aside from his family and Shanks who knew him by face. He wasn't dressed like one of the typical suit-buttheads, but that'd happened before! _

The stunned man, however, only gave the child a sympathetic - edging on depressed even - look, even after he'd yelled straight in his face.

_Yeah, as if Luffy was letting himself be fooled and captured again! He couldn't be caught here! By the stupid marine or the other guy!_

"Hey, hey, it's ok, you probably wouldn't even know in the first place, I can explain-"

"Oi you, just what are you trying to pull, lying to our faces now? I'm certainly not hoping victimizing and tricking children is something you'd take pride in doing-"

Luffy had had enough.

The marine's attention was diverted, now as perfect a chance as he'd ever have to run away.

Briskly and effectively pulling his hand free with a single swift strong move that made his wounds burn, Luffy dashed directly past both of the unprepared adults, forward before even looking whereto - just as long as he for sure distanced himself with every predator out to get him.

"Hey-!"

Before the marine got the opportunity to charge after the little boy however, the stranger unexpectedly jumped in the way of his path, slyly watching from the corner of his eyes as the child got smaller in the distance, smoothly disappearing into the safety of the trees.

He was gone.

"You…! Just what do you think you're doing?" the marine asked bitterly, already reading his weapon for combat.

_Something about this man wasn't right. Why did he seem so familiar?_

"Mr marine. I don't think it's very kind of you to accuse me of child abduction when you seem so very keen on bringing in that boy for yourself. Your actions and words are unfortunately as morally corrupt as ever I see…" The man strained a smile through gritted teeth.

It took a few seconds for the man's words to register. But once the navy official finally understood what was going on here, his face lit up in shock and anger.

"Hold on! You! I recognize you now...! You're one of those obnoxious revolutionaries aren't you!?" he shouted, finally recognizing the man's face from a wanted poster.

"Guilty as charged. Sorry to say pal, but _you _guys aren't taking that boy anywhere now we've finally caught up to him..."

* * *

Luffy breathed a sigh of relief as he rested his quaking body against the rough surface of the brick wall. The stone was cool to his sweaty skin, and the support the wall provided was definitely welcome.

_Thump thump thump thump thump thump_. Multiple minutes since he'd gotten away, and yet still his heart refused to stop racing.

He was back in a crowd of people where he knew he'd be harder to spot and he felt generally more safe right now. For now he hid under the arches of some building he'd happened to come by, to calm down a bit. But the fact he couldn't tell if anybody was still following him was immensely disquieting.

"That was way too close just now… " Luffy murmured timidly, nervously evaluating the passing mob of different people. Everyone predominantly seemed too busy to pay him any real attention, mostly just chatting about insignificant matters, like the weather, or how many licks it took to finish a lollipop. Nobody at least appeared to be looking at him directly, but Luffy wasn't confident his hiding place would work for long if those guys had already dispersed a group to come looking for him.

_Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump. Faster. His heart just couldn't seem to calm down. _

"Not good... where do I go now...!?" Luffy whisper-yelled. He tugged uncomfortably at his bandages, looking desperately around the area for an obvious route to take, but unfortunately, everything in this stone-brick city looked identical. Cobblestone roads. Hefty structures. Restaurants everywhere he couldn't enter.

"..."

The teen was at a loss. He felt like a lost child in a big city. Except if he began crying and brought even the slightest attention to himself, all the wrong people were probably bound to notice and come attack him.

"Hey! Come on mom, hurry, or we're gonna miss the sea-train! C'mon, c'mon!"

The squeaky voice of a toddler caught Luffy's attention.

"Of course, of course, but wait up for your old mother would you? I don't want you to lose sight of me in _this_ crowd dear."

A young chipper girl came running past Luffy, too enthralled with excitement to notice the teen standing alone. A woman with a bright smile followed her close behind, hands carelessly in her pockets and small giggles escaping her lips. Just an ordinary lady in an extraordinarily good mood with her daughter…

"..."

Quickly scanning the surrounding crowd just one more time, still with no signs of anybody dangerous, Luffy neglected every alarm in his head screaming at him to not head out where he could be spotted again, and tentatively began trailing the pair.

* * *

"Oi, Rafael! I need a report! How are things on your side? Are you guys ok?!"

Branches crunching under the weight of heavy boots, raspy breath coughing frantically for air, and distant swears accompanied by gunfire were all worrisome sounds the revolutionary could make out over the den-den mushi in his hand.

Of course risks would always come with any mission they'd take, but one rule set in stone by Dragon was to always prioritize the lives of their colleagues if possible. A failed mission could mean the deaths of civilians, but reality was harsh, and the lives of soldiers who _could_ fight ultimately mattered more if they wanted to continue their war with the government.

"_*huff*... No worries *huff* everything's ok here on my end! *huff*huff* back-up's just arrived! *huff* Sorry! I had no choice but to let Dragon's son run away!"_

"_Look! There's more of them now!"_

"_Don't falter! We still outnumber them!"_

More bullets followed the distant shouts of the marines. Fortunately, no cries or groans from Rafael's end to signify any of them actually hit their targets.

"_Don't think about us… *huff*... we'll be fine! Focus on finding our target! *huff* huff*"_

"You sure?" The informant hesitated.

"_Are you really selling us short right now!? *huff* huff* just get going, that kid freaking needs us right now! I saw him! I saw him.. *huff* with my own eyes but couldn't do much, so you… *huff*... better do a better job! We'll…. *huff* meet you later at the town square!"_

"_OI! STOP THEM!" _

"_YOU REVOLUTIONARIES AREN'T GETTING AWAY!"_

_Gacha._

The sound of the call ending was like a stab to the stomach. Nobody in the army liked abandoning their comrades while they were in trouble, but the way things were right now, none of them could afford to beat themselves up over the fact they were needed elsewhere.

He sighed.

"...Honestly, but to just hang up on me like that… he's as bad as Sabo…" the man grumbled. As much as the youthful sprightly blonde was highly beloved, it really couldn't hurt him to stop that habit of his. Of course they all became sick with worry when the 17-year-old snuck into enemy territory alone and didn't call them back. Of course he was scolded when eventually they did get through to him - he could have died alone in a ditch somewhere for all they'd know!

Sighing again, the man began dialing a very familiar number on his den-den mushi, suddenly realizing he had just talked to himself.

'_Enough complaining about a teenager, you've got your part to play too,' _the soldier reminded himself.

Just in time for the call to get through to its intended receiver, however, a person loud enough that the man immediately noticed, came running at him at full speed. He wasn't alarmed. Only allies knew he'd been camping out in this back alley after all.

"Oi! I… I found him! I mean - the kid! I saw him...! I really saw him…!" he hoarsely blurted out.

_No need for specification, the informant's face exploded in shock. _

"-What!? You did?!"

_They'd been so close for far too long… always 1 step behind the wandering homeless boy who seemed to have no pattern in the directions he went. Just being told their chances of helping the poor kid finally were tangible felt unreal. _

The delirious revolutionary stumbled to the side of his collegue, sweating profusely and a frantic look plastered on his face for some reason, unnerving the partner.

"What happened!? Where'd you see him!?" the soldier asked, careful of the volume of his voice. The main streets weren't too far away, and the marines currently were alarmed of any suspicious shouting.

"..."

"_...Uhm, would one of you mind explaining what's going on over there?"_ a confused voice suddenly butted in.

Both partners flinched in surprise. Though the voice from the forgotten den-den mushi was painstakingly familiar.

"Sabo! I'm sorry...! I saw that Luffy kid crawl up on top of the sea-train just as it took off, but I couldn't board it in time to talk to him! He'll be heading directly in _your_ direction! To The Blue Station at Water 7!"

* * *

**Oof...! Sorry for the cliffhanger, I've been so very excited to share this with you! XD So - this is all I'm gonna reveal about the Revolutionary Army's involvement for now... more about Sabo and Dragon next chapter!  
**

**Auch... I felt pretty bad writing that scene where the poacher got shot and Luffy got his panic attack. Poor bby, it's only really now I'm starting to realize the crap I still have in store for him O-O (but it's not _that_ much :))) I figured guns alone wouldn't really scare him, since he's still made of rubber and they can't really do much to him specefically, but what happened with the poacher was enough to push him over the edge ;-; ****Also, aside from setup to what's maybe gonna be my favorite chapter to write thus far, I also wanted to use this chapter to highlight how wary and suspicious of everyone Luffy's getting after getting tricked and constantly getting discovered because he wasn't being as careful as he could have. This is gonna play an important role just a little further down the line.**

**Sorry that I couldn't get this chapter done as quickly as I maybe could have. There are just tons of people coming over constantly for all sorts of reasons - health wise most prominently. Throw in visits to the hospital and working desperatly to finish a pretty ambiguous gift for my friend's birthday coming up very soon I've just been stressed and tired :)**

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**MR97: *ahem* I apologize for my abscense, but here's an update as you requested! Thank you a million for your sweet compliments dearest reader! And even if we're gonna have to wait just a little longer for the reunion, I'll tell you I'm really really excited about it too! XD**

**BlueHeartNina: Aww, you're so absolutely welcome! **

**Daranceli: Haha... whoops, but you're still welcome? XD MY GOD YOUR REVIEW NEARLY MADE ME SCREAM WHEN YOU MENTIONED SABO! Yeah! He's here! Right now! And Shanks is just gonna have to step back a little again, unfortunately, until his moment comes...**

**Lusamine: Your opinion is always very insightful and highly appreciated, thank you! Your idea actually made me really excited, even if I already had _some_ ideas for Garp XD But about your PM, I did see it the day you sent it to me, but because I'm really really socially anxious, I just couldn't get myself to answer... sorry :( But I still stand by everything I said in chapter 14 - I thanked you because you gave me ideas that inspired me for what to do with Robin, which I was pretty unsure about before! Sorry... I know I probably could have been a little clearer about that. **

**hendo2031: Good to know, thanks for reassuring me! Just wait a little longer for Ace - but Sabo IS gonna be in the next chapter at least! The straw hats are actually gonna be interesting, not gonna spoil anything, but I'm pretty hype for them :)**

**kagome11: At last yeah XD didn't last long unfortunately... The means of getting to Slumtasia is gonna be explored next chapter, hang tight! And indeed. Poor Garp ;-;**

**Magic Morgana: (Oh wow! Let me just start this thing out by thanking you for taking the time to write such a long review O-O) Ok, thank you sincerely for you kind compliments! And please allow me to say how absolutely thrilling it is watching my readers theorize and tell about their own speculations! It's a joy to read, and I'll 100% agree with you. That WOULD be EPIC XD - AND THANK YOU SHANKS FOR KICKING SOME WE'LL DERSERVED ASS**

**PirateHunter55: Thanks dude! And oh-! You did? Thanks for sharing your opinion, it's always welcome!**

**deathshade37: Thanks, I'm really relived so many people told me I did ok. And I'll eagerly await the day I get my chance to write Garp's carefree side, I know it's gonna be a lot of fun!**

**Caraline Fisher: Hi again dear! I'm praying things have only gotten better since last chapter? It's at least a relief to know your family has everything it needs, but don't use that as an excuse if you're still unhappy! It's ok to feel down! Thank you for your concern, though, I think I'm just getting really tired of everything that's going on ahahaaaa... All my love to you, sweetie :D **

**SerenaDragneel: Congrats with your birthday, I hope it was a joyous day full of love from your family! Don't worry about the villagers, they're gonna be safe at least! (Ace... O-O) I'm gonna have to agree with you regarding Garp. All the poor man wanted was to protect his grandson... and now it's all come to this... ;-; My wheelchair helps me get around because I can't walk too well, which yeah sucks, but it could still be a little while before I don't have to rely on it, unfortunately. Well wishes to you too, though! **

**Guest: Thank you, I will!**

**AysaWolf: OMG, I'm so sorry for scaring you! Here have a hug! *hugs* Thank you for the amazing compliments and well wishes, you're seriously awesome! :)**

**Mel72000: Your review litterally almost made me choke XD **

**Greer123: A pleasure to know! Thank you!**

**FrwydChykn: Thanks! I personally am really excited about what's gonna happen in the future, but the next few chapters like this one _are_ gonna be mostly Luffy-centric. Hope you're staying healthy as well, I'll be updating as fast I can. **

**Rustery: Aww thank you! I think the relatability of a messy folder is too real... XD And really, I just do my best, but emotions can get pretty frustating at times ahaaa... Regarding typos, no, I'll acknowledge they're there - but that basically boils down to the fact it's really just me doing everything (the one beta-reader I did have is too occupied with serious personal issues right now). I definitely feel I've progressed though, and believe me, I WILL SOMEHOW FIND THE TIME TO GO BACK AND CORRECT EVERYTHING AHHHH (but this alone took nearly 1 and a half day to edit, so time's an ass ;-;)**

**Sophia Mendes-Coruja: Wow... I'm still sitting here in awe over the fact you went back and reread everything... O-O hug to a hurting friend? *hug?* Ahhh, I didn't expect to have compliments regarding older things in the story thrown at me here... I'm blushing even if you can't see it. Garp and Kuzan are just two old friends who can relate to each other way too hard for it to be funny ;-; Garp and Luffy... that's the first time I've heard a reviewer mention them, but I won't say anything regarding it for now... and Water 7 coming up - THE CHAPTER I'M SO EXCITED FOR, DON'T YOU FEAR FRIENDO, THERE'S GOING TO BE GOOD PARTS TOOOOO :)))**

* * *

**(I went back and counted and just- HOLY 18 REVIEWS TO ONE CHAPTER I- **

**I mean, obviously it's a good thing, I just didn't realize it was this many before I finished giving my replies and noticed how long it actually took just to answer you guys O-O T-thank you)**

**Things unfortunately don't seem to be slowing down much for me, so writing is still gonna happen whenever I have the energy and time. But an update is still gonna come, so please, just wait for me~ XD**

**-_Cookie_**


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